Serene Dreams
by Fred Andrew Oakster
Summary: Refusing to give up on her dream of travelling with Ash, Serena leaves Kalos as soon as she reaches Lumiose City and takes a flight back to Kanto. Arriving in Pallet Town, she reunites with Ash and the two sets out to accomplish what they both dreamed of. To travel. Together. And become the best in their own way. Amourshipping
1. Prologue: The Mysterious Package

**A/N: **_Hello Pokemon fans, and welcome to the very first chapter of my new Pokemon fanfic: Serene Dreams. If any of you have read my other fic, Serene Phoenix, then you might remember that Serena considered accepting her Pokemon at age 10 so she could "escape" back to Kanto on her own to journey the region with Ash, like they had dreamt? Well, that is essentially what this fic will focus around, but aside from that the fics really aren't connected in any way. This is a Kanto fic (which won't be a rewrite as I think rewriting the same things all over again with an extra kiss at the end of each episode is boring) and thus no pokemon from other regions without good reason. Also for those who read SP and disliked my OC, there will be no Dusk in this fic. I am not saying that I won't use OCs in this fic, because that would be flat out lying, but I won't use them as an obstacle the same way I use Dusk in SP, because at this point Ash doesn't need that kind of obstacle._

_Before we start, there are some things that will be different though and I will go through them now. I don't see the reason why some pokemon evolutions would just magically appear in another region while the same species won't have the same lines in this one, so I will use the complete lines for all Pokemon, INCLUDING Mega Evolutions later on. But aside from the Megas, this mainly concerns the lines of Rhyperior, Magmortar, Lickilicky and Electevire, as they are the only ones I can think of straight up that are Kanto Pokemon and received a new evolution in Gen4. The same will also go for Baby Pokemon._

_And the final changes that will be made are two that really isn't that important. I feel that 10 years of age might be a little early to allow children to travel alone in a country that have wild creatures that can breath fire, spit acids, cut through trees with one cut and eat literally anything. So I have decided to increase the age to 13, the year when you enter your teenage years. Not that much of a stretch, but it makes a little more sense, since that is typically when you are supposed to start growing up and it might help me feel less awkward about writing fluff moments. The last change is Ash's and Serena's outfits. Since this is Kanto and both of them share a resemblance to the Kanto duo from the FireRed and LeafGreen games, Red and Leaf, their outfits will be more like the ones used by said characters. Thus, Ash's jacket will be red and white, rather than blue and white, he will have black sportgloves instead of green and his Backpack will be yellow. Serena will have a white, sleeveless shirt rather than the black one she naturally wears in both anime and games and her hat will be white, instead of pink. _

_That was all for now and I hope you enjoy the story!_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokemon or I wouldn't be writing this here.

* * *

><p><strong>Prologue: <strong>The Mysterious Package

"Happy Birthday!"

Ash Ketchum couldn't help but grin happily as his mom placed a large birthday cake on the kitchen table in front of him, complete with 13 candles. Today was the day! Today, he turned 13 and could finally apply to the Pokemon League to receive his Official Trainer Liscense. He had been waiting for this day as long as he could remember. It had been his dream to become the greatest Pokemon Trainer ever since he was a toddler and now, he could finally take the first step towards that dream!

Taking a deep breath, he blew out the candles and closed his eyes. Now what should he wish for? The answer could seem obvious since he had a dream he wanted fulfilled but there was actually something else too that he really wanted to happen. Five years ago, his best friend had moved away from Pallet Town and he hadn't heard from her since. It would be really nice to get any kind sign from her, just so he knew that she still remembered him. He didn't even know where she lived anymore. She had never told him. But did he want to see her more than he wanted his dream to be fulfilled? On one hand, he would need all the luck he could get if he wanted to ever make that dream come true. But on the other hand, that dream basically just meant that he would need to train harder, more and better than any other trainer. He couldn't train himself to see his friend. So what should he pick?

After a long, complicated inner conflict, Ash finally settled on what he wanted the most and opened his eyes again, sighing with relief that he had finally decided on his wish. He found that his mother still hadn't moved from her spot and was studying him with a curious glance.

"You sure took a long time making your wish." she commented.

Ash grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, messing up his already messy hair even worse.

"Yeah, I had a little trouble deciding on what I wanted." he admitted before he grabbed the knife from the table and began serving himself some cake.

Delia Ketchum frowned when Ash said that he had trouble deciding what he wanted. As long as she could remember, Ash had always been very clear with what he wanted to do in his life. He was going to become the Strongest Pokemon Trainer the world had ever seen, or as he preferred to call it, a "Pokemon Master". She knew for a fact that all up until just 5 years ago, that had all he had been set on and wanted more than anything... Ah, of course, that was probably it. He probably wished that what happened 5 years ago would come undone. And thinking back, she couldn't really blame him. Ash and Serena had been as good as inseparable ever since the day they first met. For the three years they had known each other, you rarely saw one of them without the other. They had been so close that they could have been siblings.

When Serena moved away, Ash had been broken for almost half a year and barely did anything. He would just go out into the forest and visit the places that he and Serena used to play at. Delia had followed him more than once, just to see how he was doing and it had hurt to see the usually so energic and happy boy in such a depressed state. She had tried to cheer him up, but he had been barely responsive to that. The entire of Pallet Town had been sad to see Ash so depressed, even Gary whom he usually had a hard time getting along with.

Obviously, he had cheered up a little since then and at times like today, he was almost back to his old, cheerful self but he still wasn't the same playful little kid he used to be. It was as if he had lost his childish spark when he lost his friend, as if Serena had taken it with her when she and her mother moved to... actually, Delia had no idea where they had moved to. Grace had mentioned that the Kalos Region had the best Rhyhorn Racing League in the world so she guessed that was where she had wanted to come eventually, but she wasn't sure. Anyway, wherever Serena had moved, she seemed to have taken Ash's childish personality with her. Since they moved, Delia had noticed that Ash had been a lot more hardworking in school and he had even began to do extra studies on Pokemon in his free time. That was something she had never seen him do while Serena still lived here and even though she was glad that he had taken his last two years of Pokemon Studies seriously, she wished that it had come at a lower price.

**Ding Dong! Ding Dong!**

The sound of the doorbell ringing through the house brought Delia out of her thoughts and caused Ash to look up from his birthday cake with cream around his mouth. Both Ketchums frowned as they looked in the direction the door. Delia wasn't expecting anyone and Ash wondered who would be coming aroung this early in the morning. Wondering the same thing, Delia got up from her seat and walked out of the room to see who it was that had rang the doorbell. Ash decided to wait in the kitchen and try to finish his cake so that when his mother came back, he would be allowed to open his birthday present.

It took a little while before Delia returned to the kitchen and when she finally did, Ash was already finished with his piece of cake. To the boy's surprise however, his mother was carrying a cubical box on her hand, wrapped up in present paper and tied with a large ribbon.

"What's that?" he asked, curious as to what the small package really was. It looked almost like...

"It appears someone have sent you a gift for your birthday, dear." Delia said with a smile as she sat the small box down next to the still wrapped up gift she herself had bought for her son.

This caused Ash's grin to grow wider. Someone had sent him a gift? He usually only got one gift and that was from his mom. Well, he used to get a small gift from Serena too when she lived here but... wait, could that be it? Could it be Serena who sent him this gift? Was that why it had come with the post? It would certainly explain why...

"Did it say who sent it?"

Looking expectantly at his mother, Ash was slightly disappointed when she shook her head.

"No, it didn't say. But whoever did send it got your adress so it must be someone you know." Delia said.

That caused Ash to perk up a little. Perhaps there was a note inside the package? If the person who sent the package knew him somehow, then who else could it be? He had never been far outside of Pallet Town so it had to be from her, right? He didn't know anyone else outside of his hometown. Well, he would find out soon enough. First, he wanted to see what was in the present his mom had gotten for him. It had been standing there on the table and teased him all morning!

"Well, I guess we'll find out in a few minutes. First, I wanna see what you got me!" Ash said as he reached over and finally lifted the slightly larger present from the table.

Delia smiled at the excitement Ash showed at opening his birthday present. She hadn't seen him look this energic since... well, before the incident she had been thinking about earlier. She really hoped he would like what she had gotten him. It hadn't been easy to find something that he could take with him on his journey. She wanted whatever she got him to be of help in some way, but at the same time not take up too much space. When you packed your bag for a Pokemon Journey, there was a very limited amount of space to fill. You couldn't pack too much or it would slow you down, but at the same time there was a lot that was important to keep with you.

As Ash tore open the present paper, he felt his heart beat in his chest with excitement. When he had finally got the wrapping paper off, he found... a book? Since when did his mom buy him books? Sure, he had began reading a bit more over the last few years, but he usually just borrowed one from Professor Oak's private library. Curious as to what his mom could have had in mind when she bought this book, Ash turned it around to read the title. _100 Useful Pokemon Moves and How to Teach Them. _The front of the book showed a pokemon, an Abra if Ash was not mistaken, forming a sphere of green energy between its hands. That in itself spoke volumes of how useful this book could be to any travelling Pokemon Trainer, because as far as Ash knew, the only move Abra could naturally learn before it evolved was Teleport.

"Thanks!" Ash said sincerely as he looked up on his mother with a sincere smile on his face.

"I'm glad you like it." his mom answered with a smile, but Ash was already reaching for the Mysterious Package, obviously unable to contain his excitement and curiousity. Delia couldn't really blame him for it. She too was curious as to who could have sent the package.

Unwrapping the small package, Ash found a clean white box. Frowning, he turned it upside down, and looked at it from all possible angles. Nop, there was no hint as to what was i the box. It was just... a simple box. Without further ado, Ash grabbed the top of the box and lifted it. And gasped. Inside the box, a single red and white Pokeball rested, held in place by a conformation of foam rubber.

"I-is that...?" he whispered as he reached inside the box with a shaky hand and grabbed the pokeball.

His mother didn't seem to know what to think. Who would send Ash a Pokeball for his birthday? To the best of her knowledge, Ash only had one friend who lived outside of Pallet Town and that was Serena, who lived wherever she lived nowadays. But this didn't look like something Serena would send him, and why would she send him anything at all anyway? She hadn't done that for the last few years and Ash hadn't even heard from her since she moved. So who else outside of Pallet would have a connection to Ash strong enough to... wait a minute. No... no, it couldn't be... _him_, could it? Delia felt a cold fear grip her heart as she looked down at the Pokeball in Ash's hand. Could it have been _him _that sent Ash this Pokeball?

While Delia was figuring out who had sent Ash the Pokeball, Ash had found a small note that had been hidden under the Pokeball and had opened it up to read. And what was said in the note caused his eyes to widen.

_Happy Thirteenth Birthday! This Pokemon have the potential to become the strongest of its kind. I handpicked him myself for you. Good Luck on your journey, my son!_

Son? Did that mean what Ash thought it meant? This Pokeball... this note... It had been his father who sent it? How could that be? His mother had told him that his father had died in an accident when Ash was still young! Ash felt his heart beat rapidly in his chest and his mind went highwire trying to process the implications of this note. No... it just couldn't be. Why would his mother lie to him?

Sneaking a peek over her son's shoulder, Delia almost thought her heart would stop beating in her chest. It really was. The one who had sent Ash this Pokeball... eh, Pokemon if you would believe the note had been none other than Ash's father. She swallowed as she thought about the man she had used to love with all her heart. She hadn't heard anything from him since they divorced. Why was he coming back to them just now?

"Why did you lie to me?"

The question echoed through Delia's mind. What was she supposed to say? Why had she told Ash that his father had died in an accident? Back then, she had thought that she did it to protect him from the truth, but the more she ahd thought about it and the longer time had went by, she had began to think that it had been as much an attempt to deny herself the truth as it had been denying Ash the truth.

"Ash... I don't really know why I lied. Your father left us when you were very young and I guess I just wanted to protect you from the knowledge that your father abandonned us." Delia's voice was shaking as she said this. She was usually a cheery person, but the thought of Ash's father always made her sink into a kind of semi-depressed state.

Ash didn't know how to react to that. To protect him? How could lying to him about his own father serve as protection from... anything? Why would she think that? Ash didn't get the reasoning behind it. But well, his father hadn't exactly tried to keep in contact, so he might as well have been dead. Well, whatever the reason he shouldn't ponder it now. Today was the day when he could legally receive his Pokemon Liscense! It would be one of the most important days of his life! Ponder why his mother had lied about a father he never even knew would not spoil this day for him!

"I don't get how that could protect me from anything, but it doesn't really matter. I just wish that you would have told me." he said as he instead raised the Pokeball he had gotten. The note had said that this pokemon had the potential to become the strongest of its kind. Why would someone he never knew give him such a pokemon, even if that person was his father? And what kind of Pokemon was it anyway? Without furhter ado, he threw the pokeball and in a flash of light, the pokemon was released.

When the light died down, it revealed a yellow mouse pokemon with red cheek pouches and a tail in the shape of a lightningbolt. It shook its head rapidly, as if trying to get its head clear from morning dizziness, before looking up at Ash.

"Pikachu!" it said.

Ash blinked as he looked down at the pokemon he had gotten. A Pikachu? His father had sent him a Pikachu? Not that there was anything wrong with that, but it was just a mouse! Sure, Raichu could be pretty strong and Electric-types in general tended to pack more of a punch than what could be seen on the outside, but it was a mouse!

"Uhm, hi there." Ash said as he bent down to scratch the Pikachu behind the ear.

That would prove to be a bad descision, because as soon as he touched the little Electric Rodent, it gave of a shriek and envelopped them both in a shock of electricty. Ash yelped in surprise and shock as the charge ran through his body and Delia gave of a shriek of surprise and took a step back. After a few moments of shock, Pikachu let up, allowing Ash to fall to the floor in a heap of twitching limbs and fried clothes.

"Oh my Arceus, are you ok honey?" Delia excaimed and was quickly by Ash's side.

The boy in question groaned and coughed out some smoke from being shocked, but otherwise he seemed to be okay. He sat up and shook his head to clear it from the dizziness that had come with getting who knows how many volts through his body.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he said, but quickly turned around to glare at the electric mouse that had caused the problem. "Hey, what was that for?!"

Pikachu just glared at his new trainer, letting his cheeks spark with electricity to warn the boy to stay away. Ash frowned when he saw the hostility the pokemon in question showed towards him. Had he done something wrong? They had only just met and already was this pokemon behaving as if he had tried to hit it. Judging by the look he was receiving from Pikachu, the electric mouse felt threatened by him or at least saw him as not trustworthy. He had read that some pokemon could be hostile towards humans, based on earlier interrations it may have had with other humans. Could that be it? Had his father behaved poorly towards this little guy?

"Hey, I'm not dangerous. Come here." Ash tried to reassure Pikachu and held out both his hands to show that he meant no harm. However, that didn't seem to work because rather than calming down, Pikachu took a step backwards and growled towards him. Ash tried to put on his best smile to try and give a good impression, but it didn't seem like Pikachu would have any of it. He seemed to have made up his mind. According to him, Ash was apparently a bad guy.

"Uhm, Ash honey? Perhaps you should leave Pikachu to himself for a little while? He seems to be a little tense being in an unfamiliar environment. Perhaps he will be easier to talk to after he have gotten a little more accustomed to the new surroundings?"

Ash took a moment to think about it. That did sound pretty reasonable. He cast one last look at Pikachu, hoping that he would see any kind of change in his behavior, but was sorely disappointed. Pikachu was still glaring at him as if he wanted nothing more than shock him again. He sighed and stood up again.

"I guess so. Just make sure he won't run away." Ash said.

**-X-Y-Z-**

In another small town, in another region on the other side of the globe, a 13 year girl was just getting ready for bed. It was only a day away now. In just one more day, she would leave on her first Pokemon journey. But it wasn't the journey itself that occupied her thoughts at the moment, but rather what she had planned to do, once she got to Lumiose City. And particularly, the reason she had made up this crazy plan of hers.

'_I wonder if he will recognize me.' _she thought as she checked over her bag to make sure she had everything. She had spent the last day preparing her bag for the journey ahead of her. Going on a journey in itself was a very big step but this plan she had cooked up? That was just complete madness. But at the same time, this was probably as good as chance as she would ever get to come back to her _real _home.

She had been pleasantly surprised when Professor Sycamore had offered her the chance to receive a pokemon. It was not something she had expected, but nevertheless she had been glad to be given the opportunity. Of course, she had a suspiscion that her receiving a Pokemon was due to her mother's friendship with Professor Sycamore himself, but to be honest, she didn't really care for the reason behind it. She had been given a chance and she was going to take it, even if it meant going behind her mother's back. It wasn't like she had never done that before. It was only that this time, what she did would probably have a slightly bigger impact on her and her mother's life.

Absentmindedly, Serena dug throw her shoulderbag and found a pair of sneakers that she probably didn't need. She would probably wear the same boots all the time anyway so having a pair of sneakers would probably just take up space. And did she really need this many extra shirts? Sure, she wanted to be hygienic, but if she was going to be able to fit a sleeping bag into her shoulderbag, she would need to cut down on her clothes. Three sets of outfits would probably be enough. And this black shirt didn't really look too comfortable to walk long distances in. It was very fashionable, yes, but definetely not a good choice for travelling and camping, she thought as she tossed it aside.

"Fenne!"

Hearing the surprised cry, Serena looked up from her bag to find that she had tossed the shirt straight at Fennekin, the little Fire-type Pokemon she had chosen as her starter pokemon. The little Fox Pokemon had managed to tangle itself up in the fabric and was now desperately fighting to try and regain its freedom. Seeing the poor little Fire-type struggle against the shirt, Serena couldn't help but giggle as she got up and walked over to her new friend.

"Wait, sit still Fennekin. I'll get it off you." she said gently as she sat down on her bed next to the struggling Fox Pokemon.

Fennekin stopped struggling when she heard her new trainer's voice and sat down completely still, allowing Serena to grab the farbic and gently help her get out of the shirt. As soon as she had gotten loose, Fennekin shook her head and gave a relieved "Fenne!" as thanks to Serena. The honey-blonde girl smiled and reached down to pat the little Firefox on the head and scratch it behind the ears, something that was appreciated by said pokemon greatly.

Serena kept smiling as she patted her starter pokemon. How she wished that Ash could have been there when she picked out her first pokemon. Her smile faltered slightly as she looked over towards her bedside table, where a picture of her and her best friend was placed within a photoframe. The picture showed an 8 year old Serena being hugged from behind by a black haired boy, who had his head hanging over her shoulder, grinning widely while Serena herself smiled happily. Serena felt a by now very familiar sense of loneliness build up in her chest as she looked at the picture and sighed. It had been taken just a few weeks before her mother had decided that they should break up their life and move away from Kanto. It had been a rather abruptly decided move, which only added to Serena's anger at the descision alltogether.

"Fennene?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Serena looked down to see that Fennekin was staring at the picture. She had obviously spaced out a little when she thought about Ash and Fennekin must have noticed that her gaze had been locked on the photoframe. As the firefox looked up at her trainer, Serena tried to give a reassuring smile as she reached over and grabbed the frame.

"It's nothing Fennekin. Don't worry." she said as she held the photoframe closer so Fennekin could see the boy in the picture clearly.

The little firefox sniffed the frame for a few seconds, before its gaze locked onto the smiling boy who had his arms around the younger version of her trainer. After staring at the smiling face for a little while, Fennekin looked up at her trainer with questioning eyes.

"Fenne?"

"You're wondering who this boy is, Fennekin?" Serena asked as she put the frame back where it belonged.

Fennekin nodded and looked back over at the frame. She hadn't known Serena for long, but the mere fact that the picture was so old felt strange to Fennekin. While she was still a very young pokemon, it didn't make sense that Serena would keep an old picture of someone whom she could have taken a new one with.

Serena also looked over at the frame again, thinking back to the time she had spent with Ash in their hometown of Pallet. She hadn't spoken to anyone about it for years. But well, Fennekin was supposed to come with her in her attempt to return to her hometown and search out this particular friend, so it wasn't more than right that she told her why Ash of all people was so important to her.

"His name is Ash Ketchum and we used to be best friends before I moved here."

At this, Fennekin looked up at her trainer in surprise. Serena hadn't always lived here?

"You see, I originally lived in another region named Kanto, in a small town called Pallet Town. Back then, Ash and I were neighbours and we always did everything together. My mom was always busy with her carrieer as a Rhyhorn Racer so I often lived at his house too, when she was away at tournaments for a week and stuff like that. Some people even went as far as to call us siblings."

Here, Serena made a pause. Yes... they had been like siblings and sometimes Serena still wished they could have been siblings for real. Then nothing would have been able to separate them. As much as it hurt to admit it, Serena had often found herself wishing that Delia could have been her mother instead of Grace. It wasn't that Grace didn't love her, because somewhere deep down Serena knew that her mother really did love her. It was just... she had a very hard time showing it. Delia was everything that Grace wasn't when it came to being a mother. She was kind and caring, she always took the time to listen to what her children, Serena included even though she wasn't really her child, had to say and she always had the time to help out if she was needed. Not that Grace wasn't caring in her own way, but she never had the time to show it. And she never listened to what Serena said. She was always busy with something, be it Rhyhorn Racing, cooking or preparing for an important meeting or party or whatever. Serena had always felt more at peace when she was staying at Ash's house and that wasn't even including the fact that she got to spend time together with her best friend.

"Fennene?"

Oops. She had spaced out again. Did she always do that when she was thinking about her past? Shaking her head to clear it of the distracting thoughts, Serena looked down at Fennekin that was sitting in her lap, looking up at her with curious eyes. It was as if the little firefox was trying to tell her to continue on with her tale. So, after taking an extra moment to consider how to put it, she did just that.

"But then, my mom decided that we should move to Kalos and leave Kanto behind. I didn't want to go, but as usual she didn't listen to a word I said. One day I was playing happily with my best friend and just a few days later, I am forced to pack all my stuff and leave everything I know. That was 5 years ago."

By this point, Serena felt her eyes tear up slightly at the memory of her mother telling her that they were moving. For her inner eye, she saw Ash's shocked face when she told him the horrible news. She still remembered the tears they had shed together and their shared anger against her mother. It was still to this day one of the worst moments of her life, if not the worst of them all. Sure, she had received a few scrapes here and there and had even managed to land herself in the hospital one or two times while playing in the forest when she was younger, but that time when she had to tell Ash that she was moving away and the day when she sat in the car and saw Pallet Town, and Ash, disappear behind her... that pain had been even worse than all her many scrapes, bruises or injuries she had received in her life put together. It had felt like her chest would tear itself open, as if her heart had been split in two. She remembered that she had cried all the way to the airport, where her mother had told her to at least try and stiffle her cries to keep up appearences. That of course had only served to increase Serena's anger, but she had complied with it.

"Ever since then, I haven't really felt happy again. Sure, there have been times when I have felt happy over a certain event or thing, but I haven't really felt that I have enjoyed my life the way I used to. I just miss him so much and can't stop thinking about the promise we made to each other when we were still kids." Serena said as she thought about all the times they had just sat together and talked, discussing their dreams for the future and what they hoped to achieve. They used to sit up late at nights when Serena stayed at his house and try to imagine how their future would turn out. They had it all planned out. They were going to travel the Kanto region together. Ash was going to challenge the Gyms and Serena was going to... well, she had just wanted to travel around and see all the pokemon in the world. When she had mentioned that to Professor Oak, the old man had smiled and said that she should strive to complete his special trainer tool, the Pokedex. So that had been their plan... Ash would become the strongest trainer in history and Serena would become the first trainer to complete the entire Pokedex.

Fennekin looked up at her trainer. Being a very young pokemon, this was the first time she had seen a human cry. Or well, Serena wasn't crying out loud, but the streams of water sailing down her cheeks... they had to be tears, right? Fennekin wasn't sure if humans could cry. She had been born and raised at the lab and the only humans she had constant contact with were Professor Sycamore and Sophie, the caretaker. And neither of them had cried at any point. Did humans cry? Well, it sure looked like they did... But what was she supposed to do? Remembering that Sophie used to pat her when she herself was sad or hurt, Fennekin moved over and began rubbing her head against Serena's arm.

Feeling the soft touch at her arms, Serena snapped out of her thoughts and looked down at her arm, where she found her starter Pokemon rubbing her head against her skin. The little firefox gave a cat-like purr and looked up at her with its big, orange eyes. Despite the tears still being visible on her cheeks, Serena couldn't help but giggle at her new friend's attempt to comfort her. She didn't know if it was because Fennekin's fur tickled her skin or if it was because she appreciated the gesture, but Serena reached down to lift the little Fox Pokemon off the bed and hug it close to her chest.

"It's okay Fennekin. Or at least it will be, thanks to you. I got a plan." she whispered in the little Fox Pokemon's ear, causing the furry ear to twitch and Fennekin to look up at her trainer.

"You see, now that I got you I will be allowed to leave Vaniville and journey around Kalos. But there is an airport in Lumiose City, which isn't too far away from here. We are going to take a flight back home, back to Kanto. Is that okay with you?"

Fennekin blinked in surprise but then eagerly nodded her head. If she could help, then she would be happy to do it. They might not have known each other for very long, but Serena was already the best friend Fennekin had ever had and she wanted to help her in any way she could. And travelling to a different region sounded interesting. A little scary of course, but interesting. Serena gleamed up at this and immediately went into telling Fennekin all that she remembered about Kanto and Pallet. She told her stories about how she and Ash always managed to cause trouble back when they were kids and all the moments they had shared and what she hoped to accomplish now that she was going back home to Kanto again.

The two was so engrossed in their talking that they didn't notice the door stood ajar, nor the pair of blue eyes that was looking sadly at the two as Serena finally talked about Kanto, something that she hadn't willingly done since they left the region 5 years ago. Not wanting to disturb her daughter when she was finally opening up to someone, even if it was a fire sneezing fox, Grace closed the door to Serena's room and made her way back downstairs.

**-X-Y-Z-**

Unfortunately for Ash and Delia, it appeared they had been wrong when they hoped that Pikachu would open up after getting used to his new surroundings. As soon as they turned their backs to him, Pikachu had attempted to smash the window to escape and it was only by catching him and rolling him up in the tablecloth that they managed to keep him at least decently contained without needing to resort to returning him to his Pokeball. After a little while, they had tried to give him free reign again, but the electric rodent had made yet another attempt to regain its freedom by trying to escape up through the chimney and once again, they had only barely managed to reconfine him. The same process had repeated itself no less than 5 times over the forenoon and so far 2 times already since lunch. Ash was currently sitting by the desk in his room, trying to fill in his application for an official Pokemon Liscense to send off to the Pokemon League, but he found it hard to concentrate as he kept glancing at the electric mouse that was sitting in the corner of his room. After lunch, Delia had gone over to Professor Oak's laboratory and explained the situation and come back with a kind of glass capsule that they had currently locked up Pikachu in to keep him from escaping or hurting either them or himself. It pained both Ketchum's to resort to such meassures, but there really wasn't much else they could do as it stood. If this kept up, they would have lost Pikachu by the end of the day.

However, desperate meassure or not, it bothered Ash a lot to have the little yellow rodent just sitting in his capsule in the corner and glaring at him while he was trying to concentrate. He really wanted to befriend the little Mouse Pokemon, but so far he had not made any progress. There was nothing wrong with a Pikachu and though he had doubted its power a little when he had first seen it... well, let's just say that Pikachu had proved him wrong. His dad, whoever he was, definetely knew what he was talking about when he said that this Pikachu could become the strongest of its kind.

After a lot of sighs and nervous glances, Ash had finally managed to fill in his application and close the envelope. It had only taken him 3 hours... It was already getting dark outside and Pikachu looked as hostile as ever.

"Why are you being so hard on us, Pikachu? Is it because you don't like us?" Ash asked while looking at the Electric Rodent.

Pikachu gritted his teeth (which really wasn't that threatening) and let sparks of electricity rain from his cheek pouches (which was all the more threatening). It wasn't hard to read between the lines and say that for whatever reason, Pikachu flat out hated humans. And at the moment, Ash and Delia in particular found themselves at the receiving end of that.

"Ok, maybe that was a stupid question. But please Pikachu, can't we just turn over another page? I really just want to be friends with you, but that is kind of hard when you are attacking me all the time."

The electric rodent showed no interest in his suggestion and since he couldn't do anything to hurt Ash because of the glass capsule, he instead opted to snort and turn away. Seeing that he wouldn't get a positive reaction out of the yellow electric type, Ash sighed and stood up. Without a word, he made his way over to his closet and opened it before he began to dig around for something. After a minute of looking through the closet, he pulled out a few blankets in different colors and tossed them to the ground before he left the room. After a few minutes, he returned with a large cardboardbox, a scissor and a roll of duct tape. Despite his dislike for the boy, Pikachu couldn't help but perk up with slight curiousity. What was Ash up to?

Now having gathered everything he needed, Ash took his things and went over to the corner that was furthest away from his bed and began working. He whistled cheerfully while he cut the cardboardbox (*insert Pokemon Theme Song here*) and then he began taping it up so that it resembled... a doghouse?

When the cardboard-doghouse was finished, Ash went over to retrieve the blankets and crept into the little house, obviously trying to make it comfortable in there with the soft blankets. He then went back downstairs and came back with a bowl filled with Pokemon Food that he sat down in front of the little Pokemon house.

"Let's take it one step at a time then. I am going to let you out of that capsule for now while I run an errand for mom. If you behave and is still here when I come back, I will let you stay out until I get any reason to return you to your capsule. Ok?"

Pikachu didn't know what to think abobut Ash's sudden change in behaviour. Ah well, it didn't matter. If he was going to be left alone for a little while, then he would have a golden opportunity to escape. So without a doubt, he nodded his assent and allowed Ash to come over and release him from his glass prison. As soon as he was free, he shot straight towards the makeshift Pokemon House and took cover within its (not so) protective walls. Ash looked at the hosue that now housed his first own pokemon for a moment before picking it up the envelope that was still resting on his desk. Just as he was about to leave the room, he turned around.

"I will be right back, as soon as I have sent off this letter and dropped by Professor Oak's lab to pick something up for mom."

And with that, he left Pikachu all to himself. He did close the door, but if Pikachu really wanted to escape he knew the electric rodent wouldn't have any problem blowing its way through it with a Thundershock. He closed it more as a way of showing that he really meant stay there, in the room. Feeling his heart beat in his chest with fear that Pikachu would actually be gone, Ash made his way out of the house, wishing with all his heart that Pikachu would still be there when he got home.

Back in the room, Pikachu peaked out from his little makeshift home and studied his surroundings. All clear. Ash was gone and it didn't look like there was anyhting that could possibly stop him now. Not wasting any time, he darted across the room and jumped ontot he windowsill, using his tail to open the window. The window swung open and he breathed in the fresh air of nature. He was close to the forest. This was it. He was finally free!

However, the moment was ruined by the growl that came from his stomach. Grimacing at the feeling of starvation that overtook him, Pikachu turned back towards the bowl of Pokemon food that was placed in front of his makeshift home. He hadn't eaten decently for quite a while... perhaps it wouldn't hurt to just finish off that bowl before he left?

He cast one look out the window and saw that the sky was darkening. It would soon be dark outside and he didn't have anywhere in particular to go if a storm should rise up. And even though it hurt to admit it, those blankets had felt pretty comfortable... perhaps he could stay here, just for the night? To get a little fed and a good night sleep before his sweet escape? With that thought in mind, Pikachu jumped down from the windowsill and made his way over to his makeshift home. _'Just for one night.' _he thought as he took his bowl and burried himself underneath the comfortbable and warm blankets.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **_So, I guess that's it. The first chapter of this new story. Now, I want to make sure that everyone understands that this fic won't receive the same fast update treatment that Serene Phoenix did at the start of its lifecycle. This story will be kind of like Estranged is for Hidden Prodigy, a fic I work on now and then, while I still got a "main" fic that I work on consistently. If you think the priority should be reversed so that this fic become my main Pokemon Project and Serene Phoenix become my secondary fic, then please say so in a review. _

_As usual, I want to discourage all kinds of flames. It is just stupid and if you insist on flaming me, then please be decent enough to use an account so I can report you and get you banned from this site. I appreciate constructive critiscism, but the critique needs to have a solid ground, as well as exclude personal insults to not count as flames. _

_Now like my other Pokemon Story, this will feature my special section, the Oakdex, where I give you a Pokedex entry from any game and give you my thoughts on it so here goes:_

**Oakdex of the day: **Kabutops, Pokemon Y Version

_"A slim and fast swimmer. It slices its prey with its sharp sickles and drinks their body fuilds."_

**_Oakdex: _**_Ok... this pokedex entry is actually originally from an older game, but let's stick to what it actually says. Kabutops slices its prey open and sucks their body fluids... it doesn't mention what fluid in particular, but considering that he evolves from a creature that looks like a bloodsucker... at least I get the feeling that there is a special fluid Kabutops might be seeking. Just imagining something being sliced open and then have their body fluids sucked gives me the creeps, but thinking of blood specifically... eww, Kabutops is the Pokemon World's ancient equavelent of Edward Cullen. Did Pokemon try to keep this children friendly by not mentioning blood specifically? Noo wait, that can't be it either... Then why would one of the Spirit Channelers in Lavender Town's Pokemon Tower scream: "Give... me... BLOOD!"? No, that's definetely not it, but whatever the reason, I think we can all agree on that Kabutops is not a guy you want to meet in an adanbonned alley. _

**Cont. A/N: **_And with that, I thank you for taking the time to read this first chapter and I hope you liked it. I would gladly accept your comments on this and I hope that this will be well received by at least some of you. Have a nice day! _


	2. Leaving Home

**A/N**: _Well, hello there guys. I am really really really really really sorry for the long wait! I don't have any excuse, other than a veeeeeery long list of stuff that's been going on irl. To name a few: exams, essays, homework, girlfriend. And the list goes on, and on, and on. Anyway, your chapter is finally here and I hope that you can still enjoy it!_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter One: <strong>Leaving Home

"Gah! I've told you a thousand times not to wake me up like that, Fletchling!"

The sudden outburst of her trainer woke Fennekin up from her comfortable sleep. She yawned sleepily and opened one of her eyes to find Serena had gotten to her feet and was currently trying to hit her mother's Fletchling with her pillow, in retaliation for waking her up. This appeared to be a morning ritual for Serena, because the same thing had happened both the previous morning, and the morning before that as well. Understanding that she wouldn't get anymore sleep today, Fennekin shook her head to try and wake herself up a little better and stretched out on the bed, yawning from drowsiness.

Serena sighed in exasperation as Fletchling dodged yet another pillow throw directed towards him and took off down the stairs, all the while chirping happily. Why couldn't her mother just set a normal wake up call instead of sending a bird to pick her in the head? But ah well, this had been the routine ever since she caught that Fletchling. If Serena didn't know better, she would say that Grace had caught Fletchling solely to use him as Serena's wake up call, because other than that, Fletchling really didn't do much.

But for once, she actually didn't mind to be woken up. Today was the day after all. Today she would start her Pokemon Journey! And today, she would take the first step in her quest to get back home to Kanto. Back to Pallet. Back to _Ash! _

The mere thought of reuniting with her best friend again made Serena feel all giddy inside. She couldn't wait to finally get going. With that thought in mind, she eagerly got up and went over to the window and opened it. The early morning breezes stroked her hair and tickled her skin, cooling it down from the warmth of her bedroom. She drew in a deep breath and breathed out again, just as Fennekin joined her by jumping up onto the windowsill. As if synchronized, both trainer and pokemon yawned and stretched out their arms, resulting in Fennekin falling backwards from the windowsill and Serena to giggle at her friend's expense. Fennekin however quicky got up and shook her head to clear it from the fall. Serena smiled at her pokemon's antics and bent down to scratch the little firefox behind the ears.

"You know what day today is, right Fennekin?" she asked and received a 'Fenne!' in response.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Serena got up and decided that she would take a shower before she got down for breakfast. With that thought in mind, she got out of her nightgown and grabbed a towel. As she left her room, she noticed Fennekin laying back down on her bed again, but decided not to comment on it. After all, these first days would most likely be very tiring for them before they got used to travelling.

**-X-Y-Z-**

"Here you go buddy. Dinner!" Ash said as he set down a bowl of Pokemon food in front of Pikachu's little hut. He waited in anticipation to see if the yellow rodent would willingly come out to get it, but when he didn't even stick his nose outside of the protective walls of the cardboard box, Ash just sighed and made his way back over to his bed and laid down, grabbing the book his mother had given him for his birthday.

After a little while, Pikachu finally showed himself as he crept out of the hut and began chewing down his dinner. Ash had been positively surprised to find that Pikachu had still been in his room when he got back from his errand. The yellow rodent had been sleeping peacefully in his hut, looking completely drained from the day. Well, Ash could't really blame him. He would probably also be pretty tired if he had been as tense as Pikachu had been the entire day.

Ash absentmindedly turned a page in his book as he studied his first pokemon out of the corner of his eye. For now, the little rodent seemed to be pretty relaxed, but he was still not too eager to let Ash anywhere near him. They seemed to have come to a silent agreement that as long as Ash stayed on arm's lenght from the rodent, Pikachu would not shock him. At least that was an improvement from the outright hostility Pikachu had shown when he first got here.

As he watched the little Electric type finish his dinner, Ash sighed and put away his book. He wouldn't be able to focus on reading as long as he thought about Pikachu. It was really interesting reading and it gave him tons of ideas for what to do, once he got out on the road. But he couldn't keep his mind at training while he wondered why Pikachu disliked humans so much. It was obvious that he had been exposed to some kind of treatment that didn't sit too well with him by humans at some point in his life and that in itself bothered Ash a lot, since he was supposedly a gift from his father. Had his father been harsh on him? If so, then how long had it been his father that owned him? Or had someone else treated him badly before his father caught him?

While he was thinking about this, Pikachu had finished his dinner and noticed that Ash was staring at him. Instinctively, he took a step back and sent electricity to his cheeks, causing his cheek pouches to spark threateningly. Why was the human staring at him like that?

Seeing that Pikachu was growing unnerved by his staring, Ash quickly raised his hands in front of him to show that he wasn't going to hurt him. He had already been shocked more times than he wanted to count today and he didn't feel like being shocked again. Pikachu hadn't shocked him since he let him out of the glass capsule, but judging by the look on the rodent's face as of now, he still wasn't above using shocks to talk for him.

"Relax buddy, I'm not going to hurt you!" Ash tried to reason with him.

Pikachu gave him a very suspiscious look, but after a few seconds, he relaxed slightly and his cheeks stopped sparkling with electricity. He still kept his eyes fixed on Ash though, still not trusting the human.

Ash lowered his hands and stood up. Pikachu tensed again as he watched Ash move over towards him and immediately resumed his defensive stance. When Ash saw Pikachu stiffen and growl at him, he stopped again.

"Easy there buddy, I just want to talk to you."

"Pika..." Pikachu seemed to be sceptical to Ash's claim.

Realizing that Pikachu still didn't feel comfortable enough to let him anywhere near him, Ash sat down on the floor where he stood instead, trying to make himself look less threatening. He had heard that making yourself look smaller was a good way to do that. And sure enough, Pikachu seemed to relax a little when he saw that Ash no longer towered over him in height. That was a good sign.

"Listen Pikachu. I don't know what humans did to you in the past, but we're not all bad people. I really just want to be friends with you, but to do that I need you to relax while in my presence. I can't prove that I am your friend if you keep shocking me whenever I get within range of your Thundershock."

"Pi-pikachu!"

"You're saying I deserved being shocked?"

"Pi!"

"How come? I didn't do anything!"

At this, Pikachu gave another "Pika!" and pointed towards the glass capsule Ash and his mother had used to contain the little rodent when he became too much to handle, earlier that day. Looking at it, Ash felt a little bad for locking the electric mouse up like that, but what choice did they have? And what did that have to do with this? Pikachu had been set on hating them since before they locked him up.

"But we didn't lock you up until after you became too much to handle? There must be something else?" Ash tried to reason with his pokemon.

"Pi-Pikachu!"

Once more, Pikachu pointed at the capsule and began gesturing wildly with his arms. Ash frowned as he watched the electric rodent try to convey his message. Well, at least he wasn't being as hostile as he used to. But what was he trying to say? It had to be something with the capsule and it was supposed to be a reason for his hatred against humans... wait a sec!

"You're saying that humans locked you up like that in the past?!" Ash gasped as he realized what the gesturing electric mouse was trying to say.

"Pikah!" Pikachu nodded.

Ash didn't know what to think. Had his father used similar methods to keep Pikachu in check? Why would he need to do that if Pikachu had a pokeball anyway? It didn't make any sense to Ash. Obviously, his father had caught Pikachu in a pokeball, so why would he need to contain Pikachu in a capsule? Unless Pikachu had been as hateful towards him and his father had wanted to try and keep Pikachu outside the pokeball. But that would mean that someone else had owned Pikachu before his father, because surely his father wouldn't treat Pikachu badly? And more importantly, what could he do to gain Pikachu's trust? It looked like Pikachu had indeed been treated poorly by humans in the past and if that was the case, then he would need to know what exactly had happened if he was to try and make amends for it. Not that whatever had happened was his fault in any way, but Pikachu didn't appear to be a reasonable fellow when it came to his past.

"Ok, if people treated me like that I guess I too would be kind of grumpy, but that's no reason to hate me now. If you don't want to be locked up, I will try not to lock you up but if you behave like you did this morning I can't just let you run along." Ash said as he looked over at his starter pokemon.

However, the electric rodent seemed to have lost interest in their conversation and was yawning openly and loudly, obviously exhausted after the day. He shook his head a few times and then, without warning, he laid down on the floor and fell asleep. Ash blinked in surprise at the sudden end of their conversation, but then he just shook his head. Pikachu had been tense all day, it was just natural he was tired. Sighing, he stood up and slowly and silently made his way over to the sleeping rodent and lifted him up, careful not to wake him, and carried him over to the little makeshift house he had made for his reluctant partner. Carefully, he set the rodent down on the warm and comfortable blankets and pulled one of the blankets over him to keep him warm.

"We will discuss that tomorrow then. In the meantime, just get some sleep." Ash whispered as he looked down on the Electric Mouse Pokemon fondly. Pikachu might not have been very friendly towards him so far, but he was still his first ever pokemon and Ash couldn't help but feel happy looking at him.

Trying not to make a sound, he stood up to go over and prepare for bed himself. It was getting late and he was feeling pretty tired himself after having tried to contain Pikachu all day. What he didn't notice though, was that the electric rodent squinted slightly with his right eye as Ash rose and turned his back to him. For Pikachu, this was something new. The human had actually taken the time to make sure he was comfortable before heading off to sleep himself. Why would he do that? It didn't match with the behavior he had come to know humans for. Pikachu's last thought before he fell asleep was that maybe, just maybe, this human could be an exception from what he thought all humans to be.

**-X-Y-Z-**

While Ash was preparing for bed in Kanto, his long lost best friend was preparing for something else over in her "new" home in Kalos. After her shower, Serena had went back to her room and gotten into her travelling gear. Fennekin had still been asleep when she left for breakfast, but when she returned to brush her teeth and make her last-second checkup to make sure she had everything she would need, the little Firefox had been wide awake again, obviously eager to get going.

'_Hmm, let's see here. I got my sleepingbag, some emergency provisions, three sets of extra clothes... Do I really need three? Hmm...' _Serena pondered as she lifted a set of extra clothes out of her bag and weighed it with her hands, then put the extra set back in and weighed it again, trying to determine if it was worth the extra weight to have a 4th set of clothes with her.

After having pondered her options, she decided that 2 extra sets of clothes would have to do. If things really came to the worst case scenario, she could probaby buy some extra clothes somewhere down the road. Making sure everything was packed safely in her bag, that she had her money and her Trainer's Liscence, her Pokedex and Fennekin's Pokeball, Serena headed downstairs. When she passed by the bed, Fennekin gave and excited "Fenn!" and jumped onto her shoulder. This caused Serena to smile, knowing that Fennekin was actually looking forward to their adventure as much as she did.

"Come on Fennekin! Let's go see the world!" she exclaimed excitedly, which Fennekin answered with yet another enthusiastic "Fenne!".

With her bag tossed over her shoulder and Fennekin on the other shoulder, Serena made her way downstairs, offered a quick "Good Bye Mom, cya!" and then turned to open the door. This might have seemed rude to most people, but given how strained Serena's and Grace's relation to one another had been since their move to Kalos, Serena didn't feel awkward at all at the sudden goodbye. And admitedly, neither did Grace, who cast a sad look at her daughter's retreating back, before she sighed and followed her out into the garden.

"Aren't you forgetting this now?" she asked as she reached inside her pocket.

Hearing her mother's question, Serena came to a stop and thought for a moment. Had she forgotten something? No, she couldn't have. She had checked her bag over and over and only brought the bare nescesities, so that she wouldn't be slowed down by a heavy bag. No, she was pretty sure she hadn't forgotten anything that wasn't absolutely nescesary.

"What are you talking about, mom?" she asked as she turned around. "I'm sure I got all..."

However, she never got to finish her sentence. As she turned around and her mother came into view, her gaze wandered to the outstretched hand. Serena felt her heart freeze and her chest constrict with shock and fear as she saw what it was her mother was holding. Her eyes widened and she suddenly found it hard to breathe or think clearly, because there, in her mother's open palm, laid her flight ticket.

"You weren't going to leave without this, were you?" Grace said as she took the step down the stairs and began walking up to Serena.

Serena stood there, frozen in place. She couldn't move, she couldn't think straight. She had been caught! How had her mother gotten ahold of the ticket?! Hadn't she put that away in... Oh no! She had hid it in a pile of clothes! A pile of clothes that must have been her laundry! If that was the case, then of course her mother would find it when she went to take the pile down for cleaning!

"E-ehm... I-it isn't what it..." Serena tried to form an excuse, but it was no use. She had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Grace came to a stop in front of her and looked down at her with a thoughtful look (which really didn't say much, as they were almost the same height by now). Serena swallowed as she met the look her mother was giving her, but then she lowered her gaze to look at her feet. This was it. She had barely left for her journey before it got ripped from her. Her chance to finally get back home to Kanto, to meet Ash again, their dream of travelling the world together... it would all be ripped from her by one simply, stupid mistake! All because she had hid her flight ticket in the wrong pile of clothes!

Serena felt her throat constrict painfully and she had to swallow hard to keep herself from choking on her own breath. On her shoulder, Fennekin began to twist nervously, obviously sensing her trainer's distress. She didn't understand what was going on or why that piece of paper seemed to upset Serena so much, but she didn't like to see her friend so distraught.

"Serena, look at me." Grace said with a surprisingly soft voice.

The unexpected softness in Grace's voice was enough to cause Serena to look up at her in confusion. But what she saw when she looked up caused her to temporarily forget her own distress. Looking back at her was her mother's _tearfilled _eyes. Was her mother crying? Since when did her mother cry? Was it because she was angry? No, it didn't look like it. The look in her eyes wasn't furious, it didn't even hold any kind of anger in them. They just looked... sad?

"Serena, how did it come to this?" Grace whispered and held up the ticket. "Is this really how far we have fallen apart?"

For a moment, Serena considered her words. Yes... this was how far they had fallen apart. She looked away from her mother and kept her gaze fixated on the ground a few feet to her left. What was this about? Shouldn't it be obvious, even to her mother, what this meant?

"If you have to ask, you're probably incapable of understanding." Serena replied with a cold voice.

She cringed inwardly at how hollow and cold her voice sounded. Even Fennekin on her shoulder cringed at the sound that came out of her trainer's mouth. It sounded so different from the cheerful and warm tone that Serena usually had that it caused Fennekin's fur to stand on end. Noticing the little Pokemon's discomfort with the situation, Serena silently pulled out her pokeball and returned her, not wanting any distractions from this conversation.

"Serena, please! I just want to understand how it came down to this! I understand that you want to go back, I really do, but why did you have to go behind my back to do it?"

The statement caused Serena's blood to boil and she almost saw red as she rounded on her mother. Didn't she understand?!

"Why? You want to know WHY I had to go behind your back?! Because you NEVER listen!" Serena almost roared at her mother, feeling the anger that had been building over 5 years finally come to the surface.

Now, it was Grace's turn to cringe. Her tearful eyes widened and she took an instinctive step backwards, away from her furious daughter. Serena however, didn't move an inch and before she could stop herself, she kept rambling up all the things that had caused them to fall apart.

"You ALWAYS ignored me when I needed help with something! You ALWAYS had something more important to do! You NEVER had any time to spend with me, YOUR OWN DAUGHTER! I spent more time with ASH and even with GARY for Arceus sake! I slept more in the Ketchum's GUESTROOM than I did in my OWN room, because you ALWAYS were gone somewhere, doing something more IMPORTANT!"

Hearing Serena list off the things that she had been furious over, but had kept locked up inside, Grace realized that this went deeper than simply their move to Kalos. That was just the last straw that had caused the goblet to pour over. This went back to Serena's earlier childhood, back to the time they had spent in Pallet Town when she was a kid. And with a sting of regret, she realized that Serena was right. How much time had she really spent on her daughter? How often had she actually been of help to her when she had asked for it?

While Grace was beginning to realize that it wasn't a matter of having fallen apart, but rather a matter of never having been as close as she might have thought, Serena was trying to calm herself down. She was panting with anger and felt her heart beat wildly in her chest, but she had to calm down. But that was easier said than done. When she couldn't surpress her anger, she settled for glaring at her mother, who was trembling with emotion as she came to terms with how the situation really looked between them. It tore slightly at Serena's heart to see her mother in so much distress because somewhere deep down, she knew that her mother truly did love her, but at the moment, she was too angry to let that feeling control her.

For a few moments, the mother and daughter didn't say anything to each other, each fighting their own internal battle. Serena to try and calm herself down from her outburst and Grace, trying to comprehend her mistakes in Serena's upbringing. After what felt like hours, but actually only were a few seconds, Grace frew a shaky breath to try and calm herself down.

"Will you be coming back?"

Suprised by her mother's question, Serena looked up. Coming back? What did she mean by that?

"What do you mean?" she couldn't help but ask, her anger slightly drained and her voice more even than it had been just a few moments ago.

Grace met Serena's eyes for a moment, but quickly looked away. She didn't want to see the answer in her eyes, she wanted to hear her daughter's answer spoken out loud.

"Will you be coming back ho... back to Vaniville again? After your journey I mean?"

Serena raised an eyebrow at her mother's change in wording, but didn't comment on it. She did, after all, not really see Vaniville as her "true" home. Well, it was still home in a way, but to her Pallet Town would always be "home". Would she come back to Vaniville after her journey... wait, what?

"You're still going to let me go on my journey?" she asked, shock evident in her voice.

Despite her reluctance, Grace turned back to look at her daughter. Serena's eyes no longer held the anger they had held the previous moments. Now, they were just full of shock. That must have been the quickest mood change Grace had seen but ah well, Serena was entering her teenage years after all...

"I realize that I made a mistake when I separated you and Ash and I am all okay with you going to Kanto. That was your dream after all, wasn't it? Travelling Kanto and the world with Ash?" she tried to offer Serena a smile, but she knew it was strained. "And just as moving to Kalos and become an Elite Rhyhorn Racer was my dream, you must follow your dream as well. As much as it hurts, I don't want to stand in your way for this."

As she said this, she reached out with her hand and pushed the ticket into Serena's grip. The honey blonde girl just stood there, staring at her mother as if she didn't believe her eyes. Well, she didn't really believe her eyes. She had been sure that her mother would refuse to let her go to Kanto, saying something along the lines of "It's too far away" or "It's too dangerous". Not that it would make any sense for her to first allow Serena to go on a journey and then say any of those things, but her mother never made sense! Hm... well, guess this behavior fit right in with her mother then.

"B-but I tried to sneak away! Aren't you angry?" Serena stammered, her mind not really comprehending what was happening.

Grace looked her daughter in the eyes and steadied her gaze.

"Well, of course I am but I am not blaming you for doing it. In a sense, you're doing just the same thing as I did when I moved us to Kalos, right?" she sighed and looked down on her own feet. "I was never one to listen to what other people thought. It wasn't just when it concerned you, it's been haunting me since I was a kid myself. I was always too stubborn for my own good. It was a trait that I sincerely hoped you wouldn't inherit but I guess it was a fools hope."

Serena blinked, not sure where this was coming from. Well, her mother was right that she was too stubborn for her own good, but was that a trait that _she _had inherited? It had never even crossed her mind until now, but now that her mother mentioned it, there really were some similarities between their behavior in certain situations...

Grace allowed Serena her time to think and process this information. It was funny, if Serena had just come and asked if she could go to Kanto Grace probably wouldn't have been so understanding. Somehow, trying to sneak behind her back had convinced Grace that Serena would have to make her descisions herself and that Grace would have to live with them, whether she liked them or not.

For a few moments, it looked like Serena wanted to say something, but she just opened her mouth, then shut it again without making a sound, as if she had forgotten how to form words with her tongue. Grace had a pretty good idea of what she wanted to say, but waited and allowed her the time to gather her thoughts on her own. She herself felt a little confused about how good she was taking this. When she had found that ticket hidden in Serena's pile of laundry, she had felt like her chest had just been frozen by a Cryognogal, but now that Serena had explained, albeit with a certain... hint, of aggression, she found that she didn't feel too bad about it after all. Oh, it was painful to accept that her daughter would be leaving, but in a way she couldn't help but feel... proud? Yeah, that was probably a pretty good way of summing it up. She felt proud that despite her obviously kind of poor parentage, Serena had grown up to become a strong-willed and headstrong young woman, ready to take on the world.

"If I come back here... when I'm done with my journey..." Serena said with a pensive voice, "what would I find here waiting for me?"

Grace blinked, before she realized what it was Serena was asking. Did she really have to ask? Oh, wait. Yeah, given all that had happened between them, she probably did, but there was no doubt in Grace's mind what her answer was.

"You would find your mother waiting with open arms. I..." here, she made a pause, carefully considering what she should tell Serena. She knew what she wanted to get through to her daughter, but wasn't quite as certain about the best way to do it. "I know that I've got a lot of flaws and that our history might not be the best, but I promise you Serena: if you come back, I'll do all I can to make your stay here worthwhile."

She was about to continue, but was cut off when her daughter slammed into her, hugging her in a way that she hadn't done for years. Sure, they had hugged now and then, but it had always been half hearted from Serena's part since... since they moved away. Grace's eyes widened in surprise and shock at the sudden display of affection, but then her eyes teared up and she threw her arms around Serena, hugging her back as she felt tears run down her cheeks.

"You stupid... stubborn, old..." she heard Serena mumble, before her voice became more coherent. "Of course I'll come back."

That was all Grace had wanted to hear. Swallowing harshly to try and get her tears under control, Grace broke the hug and looked down (eh, up?) at her daughter, who was currently wearing one of the most mixed and matched facial expressions Grace had ever seen. It looked like Serena had been trying to combine a happy but stern face with a thankful but sad one, the result of which looked too strange to put into words.

"Mom, I don't know how this came to be, but thanks for understanding." Serena said as she dried her tears with the back of her hand.

Grace lifter her hands and dried her own tears before answering.

"Just make sure to call home once in a while. You know I'll miss you terribly, right?"

Seemingly having recovered from their emotional discussion, Serena straightened into her full height and offered her mother a friendly smile. It was a bit weird, but she felt a lot lighter after having let that out, especially around her chest. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Of course, I'll call as soon as I land in Saffron City and then again when I find Ash. I promise."

Grace couldn't help but smile a little at the mention of the boy who had meant so much to Serena when they were younger, and had kept on influencing her growth even after 5 years of separation. She felt like she should thank him and Delia for all they had done for Serena, while she herself had been a selfish and stubborn... well, maybe jerk was a bit harsh but poor parent was a good way to sum it up.

"Ash huh? Just be sure to stay at a friendly level. I'm not ready to be a grandmother just yet."

Serena blinked in shock, not really sure if her mother had really said that. She felt her cheeks heat up as an image of her and an older Ash doing... never mind the details, slowly sailed into her head.

"Mom!" Serena cried in shock and took a few steps backwards. shocked that her mother would even suggest such a thing!

"I was only joking, Serena. You two used to look very cute together though." Grace laughed.

This did little to cool down Serena's heating cheeks and she swallowed and looked down in a futile attempt to hide it. What was her mother getting at? Of course, they had been best friends and... well, maybe Serena used to have somewhat of a crush on Ash after he "saved" her in the forest that day during summer camp, but really they were nothing more than friends, if they could even be called that anymore, since they hadn't spoken for so long. And how had this conversation moved from serious talk about Serena's and Grace's life to "jokes" about Serena's lovelife anyway?

"W-well, I'm leaving before you get any other funny ideas." Serena stammered and turned around, moving towards the gate. However, despite her furious blushing and her annoyance at her mother for ruining their good bye with such a... shameless joke, even after they made up, Serena found herself with a smile tugging at her lips.

Grace just laughed good heartedly and waved at Serena who, despite her obvious embarrassment at her mother's implications, waved back as she rounded the corner. Left behind was a smiling, although slightly confused Grace. That had been... one really weird conversation, in more ways than one. She didn't know quite what it was that had possessed her to make that last comment about Ash. It had kind of just slipped out. Maybe it was because she had just realized that her daughter would walk her own path and do whatever she wanted on that path from now on that had caused her to say it. But honestly, Grace couldn't think of anyone better suited for Serena than the person who had so far influenced her life so much. Back then, Ash had been Serena's world and from what little she had seen of the two, those feelings had been mutual.

It felt weird to, as a mother, be thinking anything positive at all about her daughter's possible first boyfriend, but well they weren't exactly a normal family. With a mother who had dragged her daughter halfway across the globe to ride a Rhyhorn in public, a daughter who had just attempted to sneak back the way she came after all these years and a father... Grace felt like someone had hit her in the face witha frying pan. Serena's father! That's right! Now that Serena was going back to Kanto, there was a risk that she would run into her father!

Would he recognize her? Would he be able to see the similarities between them? Did he even know that he had a daughter? Come to think of it, Grace wasn't sure if she had ever told him that she was pregnant before he left. She swallowed. What would happen if Serena and her father came face to face?

**-X-Y-Z**

Pikachu yawned and stretched out as the sun that was sippering in through the opening in his little hut woke him up. To be allowed to be woken up by the sun... he hadn't had that privilege since before he had been captured. Sitting up, he scratched himself behind the ear to try and get rid of a little sleepiness. He idly wondered what his trainer was up to... wait, had he just thought of the human as his trainer?!

As if that had been the signal, someone who was standing just outside the hut put down a bowl of fresh Pokemon food in front of it. Pikachu sniffed in the air, taking in the delicious smell of what he thought were Oran Berries and curiously made his way over to the opening, where the bowl stood waiting for him.

Ash, who had just walked back over to his desk and sat down with one of his books in front of him, looked up in surprise when Pikachu stuck his head out through the opening to study the bowl of food. He hadn't expected any reaction, he had thought the mouse was still asleep. He was about to ask if he had woken up and apologize if he had disturbed his sleep when he noticed something. Pikachu seemed to be a lot more relaxed than he had been just the other day. Instead of eyeing Ash suspiciously, he simply walked out into the open and sat down in front of the bowl and studied it with curiousitly.

"I mixed some mashed Oran Berries into the Pokemon food I got from the mart. It looked so dry so I thought that maybe you would want something to give it a little more taste." Ash said, watching Pikachu closely for a reaction.

The mouse looked up at him, not with any sign of hostility so far Ash noted, then looked back down at the bowl before picking up a piece of Pokefood and putting it in his mouth. After chewing at it for a few seconds, Pikachu's face lit up and he was not late to dig into the rest of the bowl.

While Pikachu was devouring the pokefood, Ash couldn't help but smile. It would seem that his actions late last night had at least had some effect on the little mouse. He was far from as tense and suspicious towards his surroundings as he had been back then. Maybe this wasn't such a lost cause after all.

"I'm glad you like it." Ash smiled towards the mouse. They had really done some progress over the few days that had passed since Ash had first recieved his starter.

The day after he had first gotten Pikachu, the mouse had still seemed a bit hostile towards him, but he hadn't been as tense as he had the first day. And as the day passed, he seemed to grow a little more accustomed to his surroundings and he had even refrained from doing any attempts at regaining his freedom. During the seconds day, Ash had taken the rash descision to allow Pikachu out into the garden, under surveilence of course. He had half expected Pikachu to dash off the moment he opened the door but to his great surprise and joy, Pikachu hadn't left and simply been trotting around the garden and looking at the plants that his mother was growing.

Now on the third day, Pikachu seemed to finally be accustomed enough not to tense up at the sight of Ash and that was something that made Ash feel happy. He was making some good progress! When Pikachu had finished his breakfast, he shook his head and gave a content sigh. Ash took this as the cue to present his plans for the day. His mail today had included a very awaited gift: his Pokemon Trainer Liscence! He could finally start on his journey and if he could have his way, he would already be on the road, but a stern look from his mom and kept him from rushing straight out into the forest and never come back.

Then, it was of course Pikachu. Ash didn't want to rush the little guy, not when it looked like he was finally warming up to him. After talking with his mother about it, they had decided that Ash should leave tomorrow, along with the other newbie trainers. That meant that Ash would need to warn Pikachu today or the mouse would most likely feel a little left out of the loop.

"Pika?"

Hearing his partner's voice, Ash snapped back out of his thoughts and was surprised to find the electric mouse looking at him with questioning eyes, almost as if he wanted to know something.

"You want to know what's gonna happen today, Pikachu?"

At the mouse's nod, Ash blinked. Pikachu actually wanted to know what they were gonna do? Well, that was new but good news regardless! With a grin, Ash stood up and walked over until he was about 1 meter away from Pikachu and kneeled down in front of him. Over the days, he had come to notice that this was as close as Pikachu would allow him to get without tensing up. It had of course been a little longer at first, but the mouse had seemingly warmed up a little to him since then so now they were here.

"Well guess what, I got my Trainer Liscence today! That means that you and I will be setting out on a journey tomorrow! Isn't that great?"

When Pikachu blinked in confusion and his ears twitched, Ash realized that maybe Pikachu hadn't been aware off their impendning journey before now? Come to think of it, he had never actually mentioned it in front of the electric mouse.

"You see, I'm going to travel the world. And I'll become the best Pokemon Trainer ever along the way, a true Pokemon Master!" he explained and offered Pikachu a confident smile. "It will be great! No walls to keep us in a limited space, no rules set up by mom and we can do pretty much whatever we want. Doesn't that sound great to you?"

Truth to be told, he wasn't quite sure what Pikachu would think about this. He had just gotten the mouse accustomed to his new home here in Pallet Town, after all. Maybe leaving so soon after was a little too fast? Perhaps Pikachu needed more time to open up?

"Pikachu!" the mouse exclaimed as it realized that this meant that he would be back in nature, back in freedom. At least, in a sense. He still wasn't too sure about this human, his "trainer", but he didn't seem to mean him any harm.

Ash could only take that enthusiastic exclaim as a shout of approval from Pikachu's side. This caused a smile to spread across his face as he felt his insides bubble with excitement. The time had finally come! He was really going to leave within a 24 hours! Leave and start his journey to become the strongest there ever was!

"Really? Then come one buddy! We got a lot of planning and packing to do!" he said enthusiastically and stood up.

Driven by his desire to get back to the nature where he belonged, Pikachu stood up and followed Ash to the door. Pikachu was starting to like this human, despite him being... well, _human_. And now, they were going to go out and live in the forest? That sure sounded good to him! Of course, he knew full well what travelling meant but really, travelling around the world didn't sound too bad to him, as long as he didn't get locked up in a glass capsule or a Pokeball again.

Feeling excitement overtake them, both trainer and Pokemon rushed down the stairs in search of Ash's mother, who was going to help the boy pack to make sure that he had everything. They may still not be the best of friends and they still got a long way to go, but this would be the start of a long and powerful friendship, that would stretch over the boundaries of space and time, over a long and exciting journey!

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **_Whoa! I thought I'd never get this up! But what d'ya know? It's full moon outside and I can't sleep so I might as well get something done! Once against, I apologize for the illegally long wait! I hope you can forgive me and that you can be patient and wait once more for the next chapter!_


	3. The Journey Begins

**A/N: **_Don't ask me how it happened, but for some reason I felt like "Fck schoolwork, I'm on holiday", and so I sat down and got myself to write. This chapter will set both Ash and Serena on their journeys, and I know you will all be pissed but they won't meet just yet. Just stay with me for a little longer and you will get your wish, I promise!_

_On a side note, I want to tell you to disregard my AN that mentioned that Serena would be wearing Leaf's outift in this fic. Since I decided to feature Leaf herself as a side character in this chapter and onward, Serena will have her usual attire. Ash will still have Red's coloration on his original outfit though, so that stays like it was told. But Serena is back to her black shirt and pink hat. That's all I want to say for now, so enjoy the chapter! :D_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Two: <strong>The Journey Begins

The Vermillion City harbour was bustling with life, even this early in the morning. Workers were loading things onto the bay that had been transfered from other regions and passengers were filling off and on the ships, depending on if this was their final destination, or if they were just about to leave. Over by the marketplace, merchants were just setting up their stalls and preparing their goods for the day, hoping to make some nice profit from a busy day.

However, our person of interest is currently standing by the counter in Vermillion City's Pokemon Center, where Serena was just retreiving Fennekin after having allowed her to heal up over the night. The short journey from Saffron City hadn't been too hard on them, since it was a pretty short route, but still it never hurt to make sure that her friend was in top condition. Not to mention, she wanted her starter to feel that she was loved.

Nurse Joy had seemed quite interested in Fennekin when Serena had handed her over. Well, maybe that wasn't so strange, considering that she was a pretty exotic species around these parts. From what Serena knew, Fennekin was a species that was unique to the Kalos Region, so to find one over here in Kanto must be quite surprising, if not even shocking, for the nurse.

"Thanks for taking care of Fennekin, Nurse Joy. I really appreciate it." Serena said as she picked up Fennekin's Pokeball from the counter and bowed in respect of the older woman. Nurse Joy just smiled kindly at her and motioned for her to stand up straight. Such formalities weren't nescesary.

"I was glad to be of help." she said and smiled kindly towards the young girl. "So, where are you off to now, Serena?"

The honey blonde girl straightened up and gained a thoughtful look on her face. Well, of course she wanted to go to Pallet Town, that's where Ash was, but now that Nurse Joy mentioned it, she had no idea on how to get there. She knew that Saffron City was in the center of the Kanto map... and Vermillion City was south from that, since it was by the sea, but how did she get to Pallet Town from here?

"Uhm... well, I want to go to Pallet Town, but now that you mention it, I am not quite sure how I'll get there." she admitted.

Nurse Joy chuckled at the teen's clueless expression and led her over to the Regional Map that was hanging on the wall next to the Phone Booths. Serena followed with a sheepish grin on her face, feeling a little embarrassed that she didn't even know her own home region. She had never stopped regarding Pallet Town as her true home, but she didn't even know exactly where it was located. She knew it was supposed to be in the south-west of the map, but exactly where she didn't know.

However, Nurse Joy didn't seem to think much of it and simply studied the map thoughtfully for a moment, thinking of the best route to get to Pallet Town. While the town itself was pretty small and not really worth mentioning, it was still quite famous due to it being Professor Samuel Oak's home town. And sure enough, it didn't take the Nurse long to find it on the map, just a little further down from Viridian City.

"Here, look. If you go through Diglett's Cave, it will lead you to Route 2, which is just above Viridian City. From there, you just go straight down and through the city to Route 1 and it will lead you to Pallet Town. It shouldn't be too hard." she pointed and drew her finger over the route she had picked out for Serena as she spoke to show where she was supposed to go.

Serena studied the route the nurse pointed out and nodded. It sounded simple enough. It was just... she didn't feel too comfortable travelling through a cave. While she wasn't really afraid of the dark, she did have her share of respect for what could be lurking _within _the dark. But nevertheless, it seemed to be the easiest route to take so she just nodded and did her best to put on a smile.

"Sounds good. Thanks a lot, Nurse Joy!" Then, she took a moment to think over her next words. "Is there anything I should... watch out for while taking this route? Like, are there any strong Pokemon living in that cave or something?"

She sounded pathetic. At least in her own ears. That last sentence made her feel like a scared little girl, almost like that same scared little girl who had been stuck in the woods crying for her mommy during Professor Oak's Summer Camp all those years ago. Well, if it hadn't been for that she wouldn't have met Ash, but still, she didn't like to feel weak or vulnerable.

"Well, Diglett's Cave is mainly inhabited by Diglett and Dugtrio, as for the name, and they are usually friendly enough. However, the exit of the cave will drop you off close to Viridian Forest and I've heard that there's been a lot of Beedrill incidents this year so you might want to watch out for them."

Beedrill? Well, those were fine. Fennekin could probably take care of those easily, Serena thought. After all, Bug-types were weak against Fire-types so she should be able to defend herself against those. As long as there wasn't anything in the cave, she would be fine.

"Actually, a young man left not too long ago. He said he was going to Diglett's Cave in order to get to Pewter City. If you hurry, you could catch up to him. It's always safer to travel in a group." Nurse Joy said as she placed a finger on her chin in thought.

Travel in a group? Yeah, that sounded good to Serena. Not that she was afraid or anything, but some company would be nice. At least until she could meet up with Ash. And by the sounds of it, it would only be through Diglett's Cave that they travelled together, since a quick glance at the map told her that Pewter City was located on the other side of Viridian Forest, which meant that once they were out of the cave, they would go separate ways.

"Thanks, I'll try to catch up to him. What's his name?" Serena asked as she checked over her bag to be sure that she had everything. Some emergency provisions, someting to eat for lunch... some potions in case Fennekin got injured, her pokedex, some Poke Balls... not that she planned on catching any new pokemon in the near future, but she had learned that it was always good to keep some Poke Balls around, just in case. All in all, it looked like she was geared up and ready to go.

"His name's Roxas. He seemed like a fine young man, very polite and cheerful. I'm sure you two will get along just fine." Nurse joy said as she began to walk back towards he counter. "He's got this untidy, blonde hair so he should be easy to recognize."

Serena nodded. Untidy blonde hair? Got it! Shouldn't be too hard to find him.

"Okay! Thanks a lot Nurse Joy, for everything!" she said as she ran towards the door, waving towards the Nurse who had just gotten back to stand behind her counter in wait for new trainers to arrive.

"You're welcome! Good luck on your journey!" Nurse Joy called after her as Serena exited the building and the doors shut behind her.

The streets outside were already crowded, despite the early hour. Serena had been planning on letting Fennekin out of her Poke Ball, but decided against it when she saw the crowds. It would be too much of a risk to let Fennekin run around by herself in these crowds and she didn't want to lose her. Fennekin probably wouldn't mind, as long as she was let out once they reached Diglett's Cave. Serena had noticed that Fennekin had been a little stiff and on guard while they were on the Airport so maybe she simply didn't like big crowds anyway.

It wasn't really hard to find the way to Diglett's Cave. Since it was located just outside the city, whoever built the city had apparently thought it worth the trouble to set up signs that pointed towards the cave, even within the central part of the city. Serena walked at a fast pace, wanting to catch up with this Roxas character before he entered the cave if possible.

It would seem that Lady Luck was smiling at her today. Just when the cave got within eyeshot, she spotted a patch of untidy blonde hair amongst the crowd. Said blonde was making his way in the direction of the cave, it couldn't be anyone other than the one Serena was looking for, right? She couldn't make out his face, as he had his back turned to her, but he was wearing a white jakcet with black squares running around the stitches, along with a black backpack, a pair of dark gray pants and sneakers. When she got closer, she also noticed that he was wearing a black and white sweatband around his left wrist.

"Excuse me!" she called after him. "Please, wait up!"

Hearing her call out to him, the boy turned around with a frown on his face. Serena came to a stop in front of him and leaned over, trying to catch her breath from the short rush. She had quickened her pace into a run when she had spotted him, wanting to catch up as fast as possible.

The boy raised an eyebrow at her as she stood back up. Well, Serena would probably too be quite surprised if some random stranger just called out to him and told him to "wait up".

"Can I help you?" he asked, still with his brow raised.

He didn't sound offending or rude in anyway, more like he was curious about why she had called out to him. Serena straightened up again and nodded, trying to calm her breathing before she spoke up.

"Yeah, uhm. You don't happen to be Roxas?" she asked, feeling a little awkward about the situation.

"Well, yeah that's me. How'd you know? Did I leave something at the Pokemon Center or something?" the boy answered, still not sure what this was about.

Serena offered him an apologetic smile. She felt a little embarrassed from this conversation. The boy however, lowered his raised eyebrow at least and instead offered her a curious glance, wondering where she had heard his name.

"Nurse Joy told me you would be travelling through Diglett's Cave. I wondered, would you mind if I tagged along?"

At this, Roxas eyes lit up in understanding and his confused expression was quickly replaced with a friendly grin.

"Sure, no problem. It's always nice to travel together with someone." he said and turned towards the cave, before he added. "These caves tends to be a drag anyway so a little company would be nice."

Hearing that, Serena felt a little of the awkwardness that had gathered in her chest disappear and she smiled at the boy, who motioned for them to start moving again. He seemed friendly enough, though Serena felt that maybe someone should introduce the guy to a hairbrush, if this was how he usually kept his hair. However, she kept those thoughts to herself. It wouldn't really be a very good thing to say during their first meeting. Instead, she should introduce herself, which she realized she hadn't done yet.

"Thanks! I'm new to this whole travelling thing." she said with a laugh and walked up beside Roxas. "My name is Serena, by the way."

From that, the two of them carried on until they reached the cave. As it turned out, Roxas was a very sociable person and asked a lot of questions, as well as told Serena a little about himself and his earlier journeys. Apparently, he wasn't native to Kanto either, but had arrived here by boat just a few days ago from Hoenn, a region that was located on an island. He had travelled his own region two times, competing in the Regional Tournaments and taking the Gym challenges. This confused Serena a little, as Roxas didn't appear to be any older than she herself was, but he explained that the rules were a little bit different in Hoenn to what they were here in Kanto.

In Hoenn, trainers were permitted to begin travelling their own island already from the age of 10 and onward. He himself had started out when he was 11 years old. However, they still weren't allowed to travel outside their own region at that age, because of the international Pokemon League Rules, which was why Roxas had travelled Hoenn 2 times in a row.

"So... how did you do in your Conference battles?" Serena asked as they entered the cave, to keep the conversation going.

"Well," Roxas said, "I guess I've done okay. I got eliminated in the qualification rounds the first time. I did a little better the second time and reached the quarter finals, but then I got outclasssed by this guy named Wallace, who would go on to win the entire thing."

They kept on talking like that all the way through Diglett's Cave. Not much happened, but Serena found that she actually felt quite comfortable, despite being in a Dark Cave. They saw a few Diglett's here and there and they were actually pretty cute. Maybe if she ever came back here, she would catch one. Roxas also introduced Serena to Bagon, his starter and chosen partner. Apparently, he had left his other Pokemon at home, wanting to start this new region with a clean slate. In response, Serena introduced him and Bagon to Fennekin. All in all, it was a pleasant trip that made Serena look forward to the upcoming journey even more. If travelling with a complete stranger, albeit a very friendly one, was this fun, then how fun wouldn't she have once she met up with Ash?

**-X-Y-Z-**

While Serena and Roxas were making their way through Diglett's cave, a certain young man in Pallet Town was starting to become impatient. Ash Ketchum had woken up early in order to leave Pallet and start his journey as fast as he could, but his mom and Professor Oak would have none of that. Because it was "tradition" that the new trainers start their journey together, Ash had to wait for the other three rookies to at least show up to pick up their pokemon before he was allowed to walk out the village gates. Honestly, why did they even have that tradition? Two of the three others weren't even from Pallet Town! Aside from Gary Oak, two other trainers had come to Pallet from other towns to start their journey on this day. One of them was a cocky teenager named Damien, who had managed to give Ash a worse impression of himself in a matter of minutes than Gary had managed in the last 5 years (and that was saying something...). The other was a young girl with light brown hair, who had travelled to Pallet along with her mother. From what Ash knew, her family lived in Viridian City.

But tradition or not, Professor Oak wouldn't let Ash anywhere near the village gates before the others had shown up so rather than try to sneak away, Ash had settled down in the shadow of a large oak in the back of Professor Oak's garden, while he was waiting for Gary and the others to arrive. By his side, Pikachu was starting to become just as restless as Ash felt.

"Calm down, buddy. They won't let us leave until Gary and the others are here." Ash tried to reassure his partner.

"Pikapika!"

"Yes, I know it's a stupid tradition, but there really isn't much I can do about it."

"Pi-ka!"

"No, it won't help if you shock the Professor. If it did, I would've told you to do it a long time ago."

However, despite what he told his partner, Ash too was starting to get tempted to let Pikachu loose at Professor Oak. What was the point of being all set and clear to go if he had to wait for the last one to show up anyway? He had made sure to pack his stuff the day before and had picked out his outfit. His mother had been nice enough to sew a completely new set of clothes to match his Official Pokemon League Cap that he had won when he was younger. He was now wearing a red jacket with white short sleeves, light blue jeans and black and white sneakers, along with a pair of black and red fingerless gloves. Completing his outfit was, of course, his signature cap. While not one to bother too much about his looks, Ash had to admit that these clothes fit him pretty well.

Just as he was starting to wonder if Gary was holding them up on purpose, the door to the lab opened and one of the other rookies, Leaf, Ash reminded himself, walked out. She was wearing a cyan colored sleeveless shirt, along with a red skirt that reached down to just above her knees. To complete her appearence, she was wearing a white hat with a pink Pokeball symbol on its front. She looked around nervously, but when she spotted Ash, she stepped into the garden and closed the door behind her before making her way over to him. When she got close, Ash stood up to greet her.

"Hi there. I'm Ash, nice to meet you." he said and held out his hand for a greeting.

The girl smiled shyly towards him as she took his hand and shook it.

"Uhm... Hi, I'm Leaf." she said and gave him a nervous smile.

Ash had to resist the urge to frown. Why was she so nervous? Did he look scary or something? Shouldn't she be excited? She was just about to get her own first Pokemon for Arceus sake! For a moment, Ash waited to see if Leaf would say anything else, but the girl just stood there awkwardly. When it became clear that she didn't know quite what to say, Ash decided to take the initiative.

"So... Leaf, what are your expectations for this journey?" he asked as he sat back down by the tree and motioned for Leaf to do the same.

After staring at the ground in front of her for a moment, Leaf complied and sat down in the grass beside him. Ash noticed that she seemed to be deep in thought, as if she didn't know quite what to say. However, after taking a few seconds to think it over, she nevertheless opened her mouth to answer his question.

"Well... I'm not really sure. Guess I never really thought about it." she said and looked up towards the sky. "B-but... I got this dream of completing the Kanto Pokedex, you know." As she said this, her cheeks flushed a bright red color. Was she embarrassed because of her dream?

So, completing the Pokedex? Man, did that bring back memories to Ash. For a moment, he was reminded of those days so many years ago, when he and Serena used to just sit around and talk about their hopes for the future. Those times... they seemed so far away now, almost like they were part of another life. Hadn't they had it all planned out? They were gonna travel the world together. Ash was going to become the strongest trainer in history and Serena was going to complete all the Pokedexes in all the regions.

"Completing the Pokedex, huh?" he said with a thoughtful look in his eyes. "I used to have a best friend who had that same dream."

At this, Leaf turned towards Ash with a surprised look on her face. Up until now, people had always laughed at her or just shrugged her dream off like it was just that, a dream. Something that never would come true.

"Really?" she asked.

Ash couldn't help but chuckle at this, as a grin spread across his face. This girl reminded him a whole lot of Serena.

"Yeah. People say it's impossible to see all pokemon ever encountered in just one region, but rumor has it that there was a guy a few years back who actually managed to complete the entire Kanto Pokedex, even including the legendary Mew."

Leaf's eyes widened at this declaration. She had never heard of this rumor before. Not that she got out much back in Viridian City, but still something like this should have reached even her ears.

However, their little conversation was cut short as the door to the garden was slammed open and the, to Ash, familiar figure of Gary Oak entered the garden with an irritated frown gracing his features. Ash couldn't help but smirk at the sight. No doubt, Gary was as ticked off at being held back by Damien as he himself was. Leaf flinched a little when the door slammed into the wall. Gary cast a glance around the garden until his gaze finally settled on Ash, Leaf and Pikachu over by the tree.

"What's with the sour look, Gary? Annoyed that someone else around here has become more annoying than you?" Ash taunted him with a grin.

"Tch, like you're one to talk about being annoying, Ashy-boy." Gary retorted and stomped over to the other two.

Ash grinned. It wasn't often Gary was in a sour mood, but when he was it was just too fun to irritate him. It wasn't very nice of him, but since Gary was usually the one doing the taunting, Ash didn't think it more than right that he got a dose of his own medicine.

While the two boys were doing their best to annoy each other, Leaf sat there and stared at them, not sure if she should intervene or let them just sort it out. These two obviously had a history of some sort, so maybe this was normal behavior from their side?

However, the descision was soon taken out of her hands when the door opened one last time and Professor Oak stepped out and called for them to come in. Apparently, Damien had finally arrived at the lab and it was time for the rookies, minus Ash of course, to pick out their starter. Hearing this, Ash and Gary quickly dropped their little argument and began making their way towards the door. Behind them, Leaf and Pikachu followed, both sweatdropping at how quickly the two boys had just dropped an argument that had made it sound like they almost wanted to break into a fist fight, at least on Gary's side.

When they were all gathered in Professor Oak's Laboratory, including Damien who was leaning against the wall opposite to the door and offered them an arrogant grin and a just as arrogant comment about "pipsqueks". After the introduction, Professor Oak went on to explain about caring about their Pokemon and how to best take care of things Pokemon-related. Ash wasn't too focused on the instructions, as he felt that he already knew most of it anyway, having both read about it and cared for Pikachu in the last few days, not to mention helping Professor Oak around the lab from time to time when he was younger.

"Alright," Professor Oak said as he revealed the three pokeballs that no doubt held the three Kanto Starters. "Since Ash already has his starter, here's the three Pokemon you can choose from, Gary, Leaf and Damien."

At this, the other three peeked up a little, though Gary made a very futile attempt to keep a cool head and not show his own excitement. Typical Gary, always trying to show off. Leaf didn't make any such attempt, though her cheeks flushed slightly in embarrassment from her own excitement. Damine... well, Ash honestly didn't care too much about him but he smirked like a mad man, but Ash didn't really pay too much attention to him, thinking that the sooner he got away from him, the better. He didn't pay it much mind though, as Professor Oak had just released the first starter, a Bulbasaur.

"Saur, Bulbasaur!" the little green creature exclaimed as it looked up at the three rookie trainers that was standing around it.

"Bulbasaur," Professor Oak said, "the Grass-type Pokemon. It's easy to raise and can become a very faithful partner. This particular Bulbasaur is still very young though, so he mainly likes to play around and isn't much of a fighter."

With that, Professor Oak turned around and picked up the next Pokeball, the one with a waterdrop on its front, and with him both Gary and Damien turned their attention to the next Pokemon, apparently already bored with the Grass-type. Ash however, noticed that Leaf didn't turn away from the little Bulbasaur, and instead eyed it with a hopeful look. Because he looked at Leaf and Bulbasaur, he missed when Professor Oak release Squirtle, but he didn't feel like it was too much of a loss. He did however turn back towards the Pokemon Professor when he released Charmander, which was probably the one that he himself would've gone with, had it not been for Pikachu... wait a sec! Where was Pikachu?!

"... and it's one worth raising, as it can obtain incredible amounts of power if it is raised correctly..." Professor Oak's voice sounded in the background as Ash looked around frantically for his electric mouse.

No wonder... he had thought that the little mouse had been strangely quiet. While he was a lot calmer and friendlier than when they first met, that didn't mean that Pikachu had stopped causing trouble now and then. Scanning the lab for any sign of a yellow, lightning bolt shaped tail sticking out from somewhere, Ash quietly began to back away from the other three rookies so that he could search without disturbing them. Professor Oak seemed to be too caught up in explaning something to the other rookies to notice Ash sneaking away.

"Pikachu..." Ash called in a whisper, as if Pikachu would actually answer his call if he heard him.

It didn't take Ash long to get on the right track though. As he got closer to one of the computers in the lab, his ears picked up the sound of static from somwhere closeby. His eyes narrowed as he recognized the sound. It sounded almost just like... '_Oh boy...'_ was all he could think in reply to this. Turning towards the computer and walking over to it, he noticed that the static sound did indeed grow more audible the closer he came and sure enough, when he looked behind the computer, he found Pikachu chewing on one of the cables that were linked to the computer.

Ash sweatdropped. Pikachu had done the same to the cables linked to their television just the other day. Seriously, would he really dare to take Pikachu to a Pokemon Center if the mouse was going to start chewing on the first best cable he could find?

"C'mon buddy, stop that. You can't just run off like that and you certainly shouldn't chew on cables like that. Didn't I tell you?" he said as he reached behind the computer to lift Pikachu off the floor.

He didn't realize his mistake before he had gotten his hands on Pikachu and electricity began to crackle from the red pouches on Pikachu's cheeks, a sure sign that the little guy wasn't too happy about being touched by him.

'_Oh, crap...' _he thought as Pikachu released the electricity he had been building up, shocking Ash and illuminating the entire lab in a yellow flash from the sheer power behind the attack. No doubt had his little "meal" served to empower the attack, something that Ash was unfortunate enough to feel, as well as see.

**-X-Y-Z-**

"So, you're dream is to complete the pokedex?"

The walk through the cave hadn't taken as long as Serena had thought it would. Only a few hours after they had set out, they had found the exit that they had been looking for. It was around lunchtime and the sun had been high in the sky, so they had decided to have lunch together before they split up. A little further down the road, Fennekin and Bagon was investigating their new surroundings with curiosity, while their trainer were seating in the shadow of a tree to avoid the burning sun. It would seem that the temperature had risen quite a bit from the cool morning while they were still inside the cave.

"Yeah, and not just any Pokedex!" Serena explained with pride in her voice. "I'm going to be the first person ever to complete the International Pokedex and see every Pokemon there is to see!"

Beside her, Roxas took a gulp of his Orange Juice and looked up towards the sky (treetops?) in thought.

"Well, never hurt to aim high I guess." he said, still with that thoughtful look on his face. "So... this childhood friend of yours that you're trying to find, what's he like?"

This caused Serena to develop a thoughtful look to rival Roxas'. Actually, what was Ash like? She honestly had no idea, she hadn't seen him for 5 years after all. She knew how he used to be like: kind, cheerful, encouraging, stubborn... but had any of that changed over the years? She knew that she herself had become a whole different person from the little girl who cried when she saw her best friend and hometown slowly disappear behind her car. Come to think of it... was she herself even anything at all like she used to be?

"I honestly have no idea. I haven't seen her for a very long time. But he used to be this happy-go-lucky person who would always try to see the good things in everything and everyone." _'Even a little crybaby like me.' _she added fondly in the back of her mind.

Roxas nodded and took another gulp of the Orange Juice, emptying the bottle he had brought for his lunchbreak and putting it back in his backpack.

"Sounds like a nice enough guy. Maybe if I meet him somewhere, we can have a Pokemon Battle." he said as he began to gather up his stuff and get ready to leave.

Serena sweatdropped as she followed his example and began to pick up her leftovers and garbage. Seriously, was Pokemon Battling the only thing boys could think about? It had been like that during her childhood in Kanto and during her late childhood in Kalos as well. Arguing over the last cookie? Let's settle it in a Pokemon Battle. Angry that you lost a cardgame? Let's settle it in a Pokemon Battle! And they didn't even have Pokemon back then! They just shouted it whenever there was something they got upset about, or sometimes as a sign of friendship... Gah! It was all just so confusing!

Sighing as she stood up, Serena shook her head. She would never completely understand boys and how their minds worked, but there seemed to be some kind of connection between the male brain and Pokemon Battling.

"Yeah, maybe. I don't think Ash would mind that at all, if he is anything like what I remember." Serena said as they walked over to where their partners were playing around and exploring the edge of the forest. "Well, it was nice meeting you! I hope we'll see each other again sometime!"

"Haha, believe me when I say that we will. A region like this is too small for us not to meet up somewhere down the road again." Roxas said as he picked up Bagon and put the little Dragon-type on his shoulder. "So, I guess I'll see ya down the road! Take care!"

Serena smiled at the boy as she bent down to pick up Fennekin. The little firefox seemed to be in a good mood and nibbled her fingers playfully when she tried to grab her, causing Serena to laugh. After a little game of tickle and nibble, Fennekin ultimately gave in and allowed herself to be picked up.

"Yeah, you take care too!" she called when she noticed that Roxas was already making his way towards the woods.

For a moment, she just stood there with Fennekin in her arms and looked after the boy until he entered Viridian Forest and disappeared out of sight. When Roxas was no longer in sight, she turned and began to walk to route down towards Viridian City. She should probably make a stop by the Pokemon Center there before she went on to Pallet Town. She hadn't wasted any of her Potions or Emergency Provisions yet, but it could never hurt to at least drop by to buy something to eat, just in case she didn't make it to Pallet before night fell.

"So, how did you and Bagon get along, Fennekin?" she asked with a smile.

The little Fow Pokemon let out a happy "Groaf!" and wagged its tail, causing Serena to giggle from the sensation of the furry tail tickling her belly through her shirt. Fennekin and Bagon had seemd to get along just fine, or they probably wouldn't have played together like they did but it was nice to just talk to someone about something. Maybe Roxas' cheerfulness was contagious? Or maybe she was getting a little worked up over being so close to home again? It was hard to believe, but she was just 2 routes away from Pallet Town, and Ash, now for the first time in forever.

After a little while of walking, Serena let Fennekin down so she could explore the route and whatever she might find interesting down the road. She just had to make it clear to the fox that she was not to go out of Serena's line of sight. Everything within that was okay. Fennekin didn't seem to mind at all, opting to investigate everything that moved technically. A Bug-pokemon here and there and even a funny-looking stone now and then. To her, this was all new. She had never been out of Professor Sycamore's lab before so being so close to nature was exhilarating.

As she walked down Route 2, keeping a close eye on Fennekin, Serena felt her insides turning giddier and giddier with every step she took. Soon... very soon. It wouldn't be long now until she was _home_. In her _real _home. It was a strange feeling. She had been dreaming of returning here for 5 years, but now that she was getting so close to Pallet Town again she was starting to feel nervous. But it wasn't the thought of Pallet Town itself that made her feel nervous, but rather, the person who was waiting for her there.

_"__Just be sure to stay at a friendly level. I'm not ready to be a grandmother just yet."_

As her mother's words came back to haunt her yet again, Serena felt herself blushing. Seriously, what was her mother thinking? It was nothing like that! Or... okay, so she used to have a crush on Ash, she admitted it, but they hadn't seen each other for so long! You couldn't love someone you probably didn't even know anymore, could you? Besides, she had barely entered puberty! She didn't have any interest like that in Ash! However, just the thought of it caused Serena's blush to deepen even further and she tried to hide her face underneath her pink hat.

And why had her mother even said that anyway? Wasn't mothers supposed to dislike their daughters getting together with boys? Or at least be a little suspicious of such activities that Grace's statement had suggested? Okay, so maybe not all mothers had to be like that, but to actually just go and make a shameless joke like that about it... that wasn't normal! Not that she had ever thought her mother any kind of normal, but still this was weird even for her!

"Fenne!"

The sound of Fennekin's voice brought Serena out of her thoughts. She looked up to find the little fox pointing with its paw up ahead. In the distance, she could just barely make out the silhouettes of buildings. They were getting closer to Viridian City! The thought that they were getting so close to Pallet made all thoughts of her mother's joke disappear from Serena's mind. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she grinned at her starter as they picked up the pace.

"Come on, Fennekin! If we hurry, maybe we can get to Pallet Town before it gets dark!"

Fennekin responded with a happy "Groaf!" and ran up beside her trainer, who had broken out into an easy sprint. Serena felt the strain from running and her less than proficient qualities in running quickly catch up to her, but she pushed it to the back of her mind for the time being. At this pace, they would be in Viridian City in no time! However, just as they approached the city, she felt something drop from the sky. Raindrops? She held out her hand and looked up towards the sky. Typical... the sky was beginning to become covered in dark clouds.

'_Just great!' _Serena thought bitterly, as she entered the lobby in Viridian City's Pokemon center. It looked like a storm was coming up. She knew she shouldn't be out while it was storming. A little rain she could probably handle, but a full scale storm would be harder. In the end, it was probably better to just wait it out and hope it would either pass soon or at least get toned down a bit after the first few minutes.

She had returned Fennekin to her Pokeball when she entered Viridian City. Not many people were out and about, what with the storm coming up and all, but she didn't fancy risking losing Fennekin in the middle of a city.

As it was now, the rain had already started to pour down outside the window and despite her reluctance to just give up on getting to Pallet Town today, Serena felt pretty content with not being outside in this weather. Sighing as she cast yet another glance out through the window, Serena walked up to the counter, where a boy was just getting his Pokeballs back from Nurse Joy. She waited patiently while the boy thanked Nurse Joy before she picked out Fennekin's Pokeball. She was just about to put it on the counter when it dawned upon her that there was something very familiar about the boy's voice.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy. Not that we really needed it, but I figured it couldn't hurt to make sure we were in top shape." the boy said as he put away three pokeballs in his pocket.

Nurse Joy just smiled at him.

"Well, young man. Raising Pokemon includes more than just staying in top shape for battling." Nurse Joy replied with a kind smile. "You need to make sure that your pokemon are happy and feeling good at all times as well. Just because they are still in shape for battle doesn't mean they are feeling too good."

The boy just huffed, his spiky brown hair swaying as he straightened out.

"Yeah yeah, I know already. Who do you think you're talking to, huh?"

That haircut... and that attitude (problem). If she had been doubtful about the boy's identity at first, these two major factors quickly swapped away any doubt that still lingered in Serena's mind.

"Gary?" she asked with her hand still halfway up on the counter, still with Fennekin's Pokeball clasped within it.

The boy flinched at the unexpected voice and both he and Nurse Joy turned towards Serena in unison. Seeing the boy's face, Serena saw that she had been right. It was indeed Gary Oak. Although, she couldn't recall ever seeing him with such a dumbfonded look on his face, there was no mistaking that face! For a moment, they just stared at each other in shock at meeting the other here of all places, until Gary regained his composure and finally broke the silence.

"Serena? Is that you?"

Serena just nodded in confirmation. What was she supposed to say? While Gary and her had never been the best of friends, courtesy of her being best friends with Ash, they hadn't been downright enemies either, at least not in the way Ash and Gary had been. At times, he could even act decently towards her when Ash wasn't around. She wouldn't go as far as to call them friends, but it was still a kind of scary feeling, standing in front of him again.

"What're you doing here?" Gary asked, still a little dumbfonded from their unexpected encounter. "When did you get back?"

Shaking her head to try and regain her composure, Serena withdrew her hand holding Fennekin's Pokeball. Behind the counter, Nurse Joy eyed them with curiosity, but didn't say anyhting.

"Well, I'm not exactly back, but I left on my journey just a few days ago and decided I wanted Kanto to be the first region I travelled through." she said, as she began to look around the lobby, in search of a certain _other _trainer from Pallet Town. If Gary was here, then that meant that he too had started his journey. And if Gary had started his journey, then surely Ash couldn't be far away. "Speaking of which, do you know where Ash is?"

Gary frowned and looked around the lobby. There were a few trainers sitting around here and there, some talking with their family over at the phone booths and some checking their Pokemon out for any sign of injury from their day of training or travelling, but no sign yet of his arch rival.

"Honestly, I don't know. We left Pallet at the same time, but I haven't seen him since then. Though if he isn't here, I'd say he's still somewhere outside, getting drenched in the rain."

However, while Gary smirked at the thought of Ash getting drenched during the first day of his journey, Serena paled at the mention of the possibility that Ash was still outside. As if to make matters even worse, just as Gary said it, there was a roar of thunder and the entire lobby was lit up by a lightning bolt that whiped across the sky far above their heads.

At the sound of thunder, Serena felt her throat constrict painfully. Ash was out there, in the storm! Why wasn't he here? If Gary had made it here safe and sound, then why hadn't Ash? Had something happened? Her gaze got stuck at the door. She swallowed harshly to try and fight down the urge to rush outside to look for him, but it was a losing battle. Her hands were trembling as she gazed out through the glass doors at the storm that raged outside. Route 1 was a pretty straight track between Pallet Town and Viridian City. If Ash wasn't here, that mean that he had left the road and walked into the woods, and if he was stuck in the woods in this storm that meant...

Serena clenched her hand painfully around Fennekin's Pokeball. She couldn't breath, she couldn't think straight. She felt panic creep into her chest as another lightning bolt streaked across the sky. She couldn't just stand here. She had to find him!

With all rational thinking gone, Serena put Fennekin's Pokeball back on the strap of her bag and darted towards the door. She was vaguely aware that Gary was calling to her to come back, but her mind barely registered it. The automatic doors of the Viridian Pokemon Center opened up as she got close and as soon as the opening was big enough for her to get through, she almost jumped straight out into the street.

Barely had she gotten outside before the wind got ahold of her hair and almost swiped away her hat in a second, had she not reacted instinctively and grabbed it before it could leave her head. The mere force of the wind caused her to sway and almost lose her balance, but she didn't relent. Only one thing rang through her mind as Serena struggled towards the gate that led to Route 1. She had to find Ash!

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **_Dun dun dun...DUN! So, the ending might have been a little rushed, but I honestly didn't think there was much going on with Serena walking down Route 2. And yes, Roxas is another one of my. So, all of you who absolutely hate OCs, sorry but this fic isn't for you because I will be using people who aren't in canon. There surely exists a lot of guys in the Pokemon world who aren't shown in the canon anime, so I see no problem with putting in someone new here and there. That being said, I have learned my lesson from my mistakes with Dusk in Serene Phoenix and will not make a similar OC in this fic. One might argue that I gave even this OC a Dragon-type but come on, it's in its lowest stage. I picked Bagon because I think it's cute.__  
><em>

_As for the OC himself, yes his name and design is based off my favourite character from Kingdom Hearts with the same name so if you want a picture of what he might look like, just google his name and you should find him. _

_Last but not least, I would like to know any certain events from canon that you would really like me to try and incorporate in this fic. We all got our favourite episodes and least favourites, so feel free to tell me in a review or PM if there is a certain event you want me to include/avoid!_

_That was all for today guys! I hope I can update again soon, but I might not be able to sneak away from schoolwork again too often. Regardless, please tell me what you thought in a review and thanks for reading! :p_


	4. The Perfect Storm

**A/N: **_What's going on guys? Welcome back to Serene Dreams. And before you go all "Huh? Who's this guy?" on me, it is still me, Mr Oakzzz. I changed my pen name because honestly that childish name I took when I first joined here was starting to annoy me. On top of that, it always got edited out by FF when written due to the dot in the middle, so I figured I would just change it._

_So, if any of you used to like Serene Phoenix and haven't noticed, the rewrite is up and going. If you disliked my old OC from that story, Dusk, I can tell you that he's gone and burried with capital "B". I do use a different OC in that one, but he is a lot different and have received a much warmer welcoming by the readers who have read the story and reviewed. So if you haven't read that, go check out "Serene Phoenix: Reborn" in the amourshipping section on this site. That's all for now I think, so I wish you a nice time reading this chapter, and I'll see you at the end of the chapter._

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Pokemon Franchise or anything related to it.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Three: <strong>The Perfect Storm

Ash Ketchum wasn't having the best of days. Sure he had finally gotten out on the road and taken the first step towards his dream, but that didn't mean that everything went as smoothly as he would've liked it to. First, he wasn't allowed to head out despite being ready, because Professor Oak wanted him to wait for the other 3 rookies to choose their starter, so that they could head out at the same time. Then, Pikachu decided to grab an early meal and chew down a few cables in Oak's laboratory, which in turn resulted in Ash getting shocked by the mouse when he tried to tell said Electric-type off. To top off his brilliant morning, his mother embarrassed him in front of the whole town with her constant nagging about remembering to change his underwear and last but not least, a Rattata had somehow managed to steal his lunch when he and Pikachu stopped for their first break. Just brilliant!

Well, no use brooding over a lost lunch, but the point was that things hadn't gone exactly as he had hoped they would. He had sat his bag down by a tree and told Pikachu to keep an eye on it while he went to go look for some berries to mix into Pikachu's Pokemon Food. He had learnt over the days that the mouse preferred to have something fruitish or berryish in his bowl to give his meal a "touch of nature", but carrying berries and fruit around in his bag would only serve to make his extra clothes icky, not to mention that carrying around fruits and berries in containers for several days wouldn't really make them as "fresh" as Pikachu liked. So, he had left to find some fresh berries for Pikachu, but when he had returned with some Oran Berries and a Pecha Berry, he had found Pikachu asleep on a tree branch and a Rattata happily munching down his last sandwhich.

As it was now, Ash had given Pikachu his berries and Pokemon Food, and the rodent was happily swallowing it down, but Ash himself had nothing to eat. Well, Viridian City wasn't too far away so he should be able to reach there before night fell so maybe he could do, but in the future he should keep in mind that Pikachu was not trustworthy with guarding his lunch.

While Ash waited for Pikachu to finish, he had sat down beside his partner and was currently reading through a book on Pokemon Habitats, trying to figure out what Pokemon he had a chance of meeting on this Route. He already knew that there were Rattatas here, and he could probably expect most Flying-types that were native to Kanto, since they tended to move around pretty freely. Other than that though, he wasn't completely sure. If he wanted any bigger variation in Pokemon species, he would probably need to leave the road and go into the forest a little bit.

"Pika!"

On Pikachu's declaration, Ash looked up from his book to find the Electric mouse rolled over and patting his full stomach. Trying not to think about how nice it would be to have a full stomach, Ash began to pack up his things and got ready to leave. He would give Pikachu 5 minutes to digest the food, then they would be going into the forest to search for any kind of interesting species of Pokemon they could find. While he was excited to catch his first Pokemon, Ash knew that he wanted his first catch to be worthwhile. That meant, no Rattata. No offense to the rat-pokemon, but a Raticate wouldn't really be enough to help him win the Indigo Conference. He honestly wouldn't mind one of those Flying-types, but if he was to catch a Pidgey or a Spearow, he would need to test the bird carefully. While both Pidgeot and Fearow could become very strong Pokemon with the right training, they could also be pretty average or even worse than average if not trained right.

"You ready to go, buddy?" Ash asked as he stood up again and tossed his bag over his shoulder.

Pikachu, seeing that Ash was ready to go, gave one last yawn to try and get rid of his lunch-drowsiness and stood up. Together, the two of them headed towards the forest to the right of the road. The deeper they made it into the woods, the more excited Pikachu seemed to become. This was where he belonged. This was how he was supposed to live! Not locked up in a glass container.

Ash studied Pikachu reactions with interest for a moment, before he shrugged them off and began to look around for anything that he would have use for in his quest to become a Pokemon Master. While the forest was bubbling over with life and activity, Ash didn't quite see anything that would become strong enough.

"Well, not much around here it seems. Maybe we should head back to the road and instead focus on catching something in Viridian Forest. What do you think, Pikachu?" Ash asked as he looked around, but only saw some weaker Pokemon like Rattata, a few Pidgey and a Mankey. Nothing against those Pokemon, but at this moment none of them were on his list of "going to catch" Pokemon. However, when he didn't recieve any answer, Ash frowned and turned around "Pikachu?"

Turning around and seeing nothing, Ash felt himself sweatdrop. He sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance. He turned his back on the rodent for 5 seconds maximum and when he turns back he is gone. By now, he didn't think Pikachu would try to escape from his ownership if he didn't do anything really stupid, but Pikachu still didn't always listen to what he had to say.

"Pikachu! Come out! We're going back to the road!" he called, using his hands to form a cone around his mouth to try and amplify his voice.

As soon as the words left his lips, something rustled in a bush nearby and Pikachu's head appeared amongst the leaves. Ash walked over to him and bent down to talk to him, but Pikachu seemed to want him to come along for something.

"Pikachu! Pika-pi, Pika!" he said and pointed out into the forest.

Ash frowned. "Uhm, alright, I guess I'll follow then." he said as Pikachu disappeared back into the vegetation.

Struggling to keep up with his partner, Ash followed Pikachu until they reach a clearing. It didn't take Ash long to realize why Pikachu had him here. The yellow rodent was pointing excitedly towards a large bird-like silhouette that was resting in the shadow of a tree that stood in the middle of the clearing. Ash eyes widened as he recognized the shape of the bird and silently pulled out his Pokedex.

_"Fearow, the Beak Pokemon, and the evolved form of Spearow. With its huge and magnificent wings, Fearow is said to have the stamina to fly all day long without having to neither land, nor rest. If threatened, it will use its long and sharp beak for self defense."_

Swallowing, Ash put away his Pokedex and looked back towards the Fearow. It was still resting, probably asleep and hadn't noticed them yet. While Flying-types could be challening to train the right way if you weren't an expert at it, this particular Fearow appeared to already be pretty well trained. From what he could see from here, it was pretty large for its kind and the beak was almost shining in a blood red color, which was a clear sign that it was well fed. He had read that if a Fearow, or Spearow for that matter, is poorly fed or trained, its beak and cockscomb tended to be more orange or even yellowish than red. Judging by this ones beak and cockscomb, it was clearly both well fed and trained.

"Pika?"

Ash looked down towards Pikachu, whose cheeks were already sparkling with electricity. So that's why he had led Ash here. He was itching for a fight and he knew Ash was out to fight and catch the strongest. '_Nice one, Pikachu.' _Ash thought with a grin as he motioned for Pikachu to step forward. Rising to his feet, Ash followed Pikachu out in the clearing and stood a few feet away from the Fearow. As they came to a stop, one of the Fearow's eyes opened and, spotting the two approaching strangers, the Beak Pokemon quickly shook off any sleepiness it might have had and rose from its sitting position.

Seeing the guarded look in the Fearow's eyes, Ash clenched his fists and fell into a slightly crouching position, keeping himself on his toes. This would be a touch fight. He had an advantage with Pikachu's Thundershock being Super Effective against Fearow's Flying-type, but from what he knew, Pikachu was still pretty young and this Fearow looked experienced. And he knew from the battles on TV that type advantage wasn't everything.

To the Fearow's credit, it would seem that it too knew of its own type weakness against the Electric rodent and waited for them to make the first move. It eyed them carefully while it spread its wings, but it didn't immediately take off, knowing that if it did, there would be a second where it was open to an attack. Pikachu growled slightly under his breath and took a threatening step forward, before dashing towards his opponent without waiting for Ash's command.

"Wait! Don't just rush in!" Ash called after him but it was too late. Fearow took to the air and easily avoided what Ash assumed was an attempt at Quick Attack as it flew over Pikachu's poor attempt to land a hit.

Pikachu however, didn't let up his assault and turned aroun quickly, allowing electricity to engulf his entire body as he fired a Thundershock towards the escaping Fearow. The bird however, showed proof of great manouverability and simply glided out of range from the strike of thunder that came rushing towards it.

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted in frustration and ran after Fearow, who in turn simply rose higher up in the air.

Ash stood helplessly by the side, as Pikachu kept firing Thundershocks towards his opponent, who didn't even seem to tire from avoiding the attacks. Well, guess that rumor about Fearows being bale to fly for days on end had some merit to them then. After what had to be Pikachu's 10th Thundershock, the little rodent was beginning to look tired from having let out such a great amount of energy in such a short amount of time. That's when Fearow decided to strike.

Positioning its long neck in a straight line and pulling its wings close to its body so that it wasn't any more than a brown stripe, Fearow dove towards Pikachu in a fast fall while spinning like a drill. Ash gasped in shock and terror as he recongized the move. He hadn't seen a Fearow use it before, but he recognized it from a battle he had seen on TV.

"Damn! That's Drill Run!" he swore under his breath. Drill Run was a Ground-type move, and Ground was Super Effective against Electric-types like Pikachu. He didn't even know that Fearow could learn that move! He knew that it could learn Drill Peck, but this definetely wasn't some spinning pecking. If that move hit...

"Pikachu! Get out of the way!" he called as dashed towards his partner, who had been left immobile from fatigue.

Just as Fearow's attack was about to connect, Ash threw himself forward and managed to get ahold of Pikachu, barely avoiding Fearow's beak himself. Instead, the Ground-type move hit the ground where Pikachu had stood just a few moments earlier and, to Ash's and Pikachu's horror, caused the ground to crack from the power of the impact.

Wide eyed, Ash quickly got to his feet and stumbled as far away from Fearow as he could as the majestic bird once again took to the sky. Feeling adrenaline rush through his veins as he followed their opponent with his eyes, Ash carefully set Pikachu back down on the ground. If that Drill Run connected with Pikachu, they could both kiss their asses goodbye. Pikachu also seemed to realize this fact, as he looked up helplessly at Ash, as if asking what he should do. He had tried to hit Fearow, but the bird was just too fast for him at this range. Normally, ranged combat was Pikacuh's favoured method of battling but Fearow's speed and stamina made it impossible for Pikachu to make use of his ranged attacks.

Feeling Pikachu's eyes on him, Ash kept following Fearow's movements out of the corner of his eye while he was searching for something he could use to their advantage. They were in an almost open clearing, so there was no way of limiting Fearow's movements or intercepting him (he was pretty sure that this Fearow was male). He could of course try throwing a Pokeball at Fearow and hope for the best, but that would still require Fearow to be close enough for him to hit it and even if he hit, Fearow hadn't been weakened at all since the start of the battle, so it would be a futile attempt. While it wasn't unheard of to catch weaker pokemon without hurting them, this Fearow had proven to be anything but weak so far.

In the end, there was only one way he could go about this. The only time Fearow was close enough for either him or Pikachu to hit it with anything was when it came in for an attack. The only option they had was to counterattack in that moment, when Fearow came in for a hit. Having made up his mind on a course of action, Ash bent down to whisper something in Pikachu's ears. The mouse's ears twitched when Ash explained his plan, but he nodded reluctantly.

While Ash and Pikachu was scheming his demise, Fearow had flown in an arch around the clearing while keepin an eye on his opponents, hoping to find another opening for an attack. The opprtunity appeared when Ash finally left Pikachu again and began to make his way across the clearing. Giving off a triumphant "Feeear!", Fearow made a turn to gain speed and dove towards Pikachu once again, repeating his move from earlier as he aimed his Drill Run carefully without letting Pikachu out of his sight. Pikachu tried to run away, using Quick Attack to dash across the clearing, but Fearow simply adjusted his weight so that he followed the escaping rodent. He was just about to hit Pikachu when...

"Gotcha!" Ash shouted as he threw himself forward and grabbed Fearow around the neck.

While Fearow had been focused on Pikachu, he had failed to notice that Ash had stopped running as soon as he dove for Pikachu and that Pikachu hadn't just dashed off in a random direction, but straight towards his trainer. Now, with Ash clinging to his neck and holding his wings down, Fearow felt hismelf falling to the ground without being able to finish his move and the two of them hit the ground hard.

"Now Pikachu!" Ash shouted.

Hesitating for a moment, Pikachu soon gathered up all the electrical energy he had left and let loose one last Thundershock. The thunder move travelled the short distance between himself and Fearow, hitting both his opponent and trainer at the same time. Fearow screamed out in pain as the Super Effective attack did its work, while Ash grit his teeth at the by now familiar sensation. He was starting to question his own sanity, but he had been hit with Pikachu's Thundershock before and he knew that Fearow was probably hurting a lot more than he was. Technically, it was a reckless move to downright _ask _Pikachu to shock him, but judging by the tired look on Pikachu's face, he didn't have much more energy left so at this point he had to make the last attack count. While this probably wasn't the best way to do it, it was the easiest and the one that had come to mind quickest.

However, it didn't take Pikachu long to run out of gas and as soon as he did, he fell to the ground, completely exhausted. As the last of the electrical current left their bodies, Ash and Fearow fell to the ground as well, friend by Pikachu's Thundershock, though as expected Ash was in slightly better condition than Fearow. Not that any of them were in top condition, but given that the attack was Super Effective against Fearow and Ash's constant exposure to the very same move in the last few days, the bird seemed to have taken the hit harder.

For a moment, both Ash and Fearow lay on the ground, both trying to catch their breath and recover from the shock. Pikachu had also fallen to the ground, feeling his fatigue catch up to him. In that particular moment, Ash looked up towards the sky and frowned. Storm clouds? Where had those come from? He was pretty sure they hadn't been there when he and Pikachu had first arrived in the clearing. Had the battle really taken that long? It felt like it had only lasted a few minutes...

"Feaaaaar!"

With a furious scream, Fearow took to the air again, flying in an arch around the clearing before diving for his target, this time using Aerial Ace, wanting the extra mobility and aim to ensure that this move landed. He still felt the shocks from Pikachu's Thundershock, indicating that the attack had left him with a slight paralysis, but he ignored it for the time being and instead steeped his dive for his target.

Only this time, Pikachu was not the one targeted.

Seeing Fearow dive towards him with its beak ready to pierce his heart, Ash's eyes widened in shock and he was forced to roll to the side to avoid ending up on the recieving end of the sharp, spear-like beak. Fearow's attack struck the ground, and the impact caused the paralysis to kick in temproarily, sending shocks through his body and causing it to flinch.

Ash felt his hand tremble, partly from exhaustion and partly from fear, as he reached inside his pocket to retrieve a Pokeball. Pikachu's attack hadn't done as much damage as he had hoped it would, but hopefully the paralysis would be enough to keep Fearow subdued. He swallowed nervously as he returned the empty Pokeball to its original size and tossed it at the paralyzed Fearow, who still had its beak embedded into the ground. The ball hit the bird, which turned into a red, plasma-like substance that was then sucked into the Pokeball before it closed.

The Pokeball landed on the ground and immediately began rolling around, the central dot on the ball blinking with red light, a clear sign that the Fearow was offering violent resistance. Ash was almost sure that his heart would burst out of his chest from all the beating. He clenched his fist and stared at the Pokeball transfixed. It rocked one... two... three... four... DING!

The sound of the Pokeball turning off echoed through Ash's ears, going straight through his head and then out on the other side. It took him several seconds before he realized that the battle was over. They had done it. Fearow was caught!

Rising from the ground on shaky legs, Ash made his way over to the Pokeball and picked it up. He stared at it, lying flat in his hand. He should be happy. Why didn't he feel excited? It was his first actual catch! It had been his first battle with Pikachu and they had won it!

'_But'_, whispered a voice in the back of his head, '_at what price? Pikachu was exhausted and it had been so close. If Fearow had hit me, or Pikachu one more time, with either that second Drill Run or the Aerial Ace, then we would have been toast.'_

Had he gotten in over his head? He had wanted to make his first catch count so badly that he had practically searched out one of the strongest Pokemon in the entire area, and challenged it with an inexperienced Pikachu as his only companion. Maybe, next time he should think twice before jumping into action. Sighing, Ash put the Pokeball away and walked over to Pikachu. The little mouse had fallen asleep from the exhaustion after the battle. Ash silently picked him up, looking him up and down for any major injuries but he seemed to be fine, just tired. With a good night sleep and maybe a little potion, he should be as good as new.

Just as he thought about it, he heard a crack of thunder echo from somewhere above his head, as rain began to fall from the sky in a steady stream. Just great, how had he not noticed this storm coming up?

"C'mon buddy, we better get back to the road." he said as he rose in his full height and turned around to walk back to the road.

However, as he turned around he noticed something else he had missed. Sitting in the tree, under which Fearow had been resting when they found it, a flock of Spearows were eyeing him and Pikachu with a collective now-you're-in-for-it-look. Ash felt himself grow cold as realisation hit him. Had that Fearow been their flock leader? Then he couldn't be the most popular guy in their eyes, and if memory served right, Spearow were known for their bad temper and aggressive nature...

"SPEAAAAAAR!"

At the given signal, the flock of Spearows lifted from the tree and surged down towards Ash and Pikachu. '_Crap!'_ Ash thought in panic as he immediately dashed off in the direction they came from. At least, the direction where he thought he had come from.

**-X-Y-Z-**

The storm was tearing at Serena's clothes and almost swiped her off her feet as she made her way through Route 1. Her hair was flowing in all directions and she felt herself rock back and forth on the road as she tried to find any sign of Ash. Gary had said that he was out here, somewhere. She had to find him! There was absolutely no way Gary could've made it to Viridian City and Ash not without a good reason.

However, the storm had turned out to be even worse than Serena had ever imagined. She was almost tempted to turn around, but the mere thought of Ash being out here on his own was enough to keep her going. The picture of the face of the young boy she used to know was plastered on the insides of her eyelocks, smiling at her as he offered her a helping hand when she had needed it, back in the forest when they had first met. He had helped her without a second thought, even though they hadn't even known each other back then. He had come through for her whenever she needed help, be it just someone to talk to or help with something more practical. How could she call herself his friend if she was not willing to do the same for him?

Gritting her teeth in annoyance of the strong winds, Serena pushed forward, determined not to let this storm get the better of her. But despite that, she could feel how her legs were starting to get tired from the constant struggle. Just as she thought she was about to collapse, she spotted something, or rather someone. On the road, a few feet in front of her, stood a man dressed in a black suit. She couldn't make out his face, due to the shadow cast by the black fedora that was somehow sticking to his head, but somehow he was radiating with confidence and power, even in this extreme weather.

"Excuse me, Sir!" Serena called, trying to get the man's attention.

The man turned to look at her. She could just barely make out the lower part of his otherwise shadowed face, but it seemed vaguely familiar. She could almost swear that she had seen that chin somewhere before... wait, why was she thinking about this now?!

"He's that way." the man said with an even voice and pointed towards some trees aside the road.

Serena's eyes widened in shock. Did this man know Ash? But how could he have known that she was looking for him? Casting a look at the spot amongst the trees where the man had pointed, Serena swallowed. Was Ash somewhere in the forest? She had thought that things were bad enough as they were, but if he really was in the forest, then things had just turned about 100 times worse. Having grown up in two towns surrounded by forest, Serena knew all too well the danger of being out in the forest if the weather was too stormy, as the trees could give in to the pressure and fall without warning. If you were in the wrong place at the wrong time then, you could potentially draw your last breaths in that very storm right then and there.

"Are you sure that he's...?" she was about to ask the man to confirm what he had said, but when she turned back around in his direction, he was gone.

For a moment, Serena just stood there, frozen in place. Time seemed to slow down, as the realization that the man had just disappeared without a trace hit her. As it did, she felt a shiver run down her spine. Had she been imagining the man? Was the storm messing up her head or something? Or had he been a ghost?

Taking a deep breath and shaking her head, Serena turned towards the part of the forest where the man had pointed. Ghost or not, it made sense that Ash was off in the forest. That would explain why he hadn't gotten to the Pokemon center in time. '_Well, here goes nothing.' _Serena thought to herself as she took another deep breath to steady her nerves and made her way into the forest, knowing full well that if her mother could see her doing something this reckless, she would be immediately called back home.

**-X-Y-Z-**

The storm tore at Ash's jacket and he was just about ready to collapse. He had already been tired when the Spearow had begun chasing him and running for his life didn't make things better. As if that wasn't enough, the storm had now picked up pretty roughly and he would dare say that this was the worst storm he had ever seen in his entire life. Wonderful...

"Pi...Pi-ka..." Pikachu mumbled in his arms, gasping for breath.

"Don't try to speak, Pikachu. I'll fix this, I promise. Everything will be just fine, just don't excert yourself." Ash said, trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince Pikachu.

But despite that claim, he was starting to doubt himself. What kind of trainer was he? Since he set out, nothing had gone as he had planned. He had studied more than anyone, learned everything he could learn from books and Professor Oak's reserach lab in order to be able to become the best once he set out and yet he was failing so badly already. He had failed to keep a Rattata from eating his lunch, failed to see the threat Fearow posed to both him and Pikachu, failed to come up with a good plan to subdue Fearow and now he was failing to even keep himself and his Pokemon alive.

Just as he thought about it, he felt his right foot getting stuck in a root that was sticking out of the ground and with a yelp he fell forward, landing hard on the stony ground. He tried to just catch his breath and get back up to keep running, but he fell back to the ground just a second later. That had been it. He couldn't go on. He was too tired. That fall had taken the last little bit of energy he had left.

Pikachu noticed that his trainer was injured and exhausted and tried to get up, but found that he was still too tired from his battle with Fearow to be able to get up and fight. He didn't know why, but the passion, the care and the will to keep him safe that his trainer had shown for him made Pikachu want to get back up and fight for his trainer, to try to keep him safe from the flock of angry Spearows that was threatening them. He had been wrong, not all humans were bad. Ash had shown him nothing but love and even now, when his own life was in danger, he still refused to leave Pikachu behind. Pikachu grit his teeth in anger at his own weakness. Why?! Why was he so weak?! He had failed to defeat Fearow, a Pokemon he was supposed to have an advantage over, and now he couldn't even protect his own trainer, not even protect himself! If Ash hadn't been there, he would've been dead long ago.

"Pikachu..." Ash whispered as he reached inside his jacket and pulled out a very familiar red and white object. "Please, get inside your Pokeball. If you're inside that, the Spearows won't be able to reach you. Just go inside it for now, and maybe I can save you! Maybe, at least one of us can make it out of this alive."

Ash's voice trembled as he said this. He put the Pokeball on the ground in front of Pikachu and then forced himself to his feet. He knew that he was too tired to run, he wouldn't be able to get away from the Spearows. But if he was going to die, he wouldn't do it like this, crawling on the ground in a dirty forest. If there really was no way out of this, he was going to go down with his pride intact. He was going to do it standing tall with a straight back, facing his banebirds, not lying down with his face in the dirt.

Clenching his fist, Ash threw out his arms as if he was about to call out to the heavens. He watched as the flock of Spearows came closer and closer, but he didn't flinch. He hadn't failed completely. Fearow was still safe inside his Pokeball, and soon Pikachu would be too. He hadn't failed them, they would survive this.

"Spearows! Can you hear me?!" he roared at the flock of approaching Pokemon. "I may have failed to defeat you, but you won't get past this point! I don't care what it takes, but I'll stop you! I won't let you touch my Pokemon, my friends!"

This only seemed to anger the Spearows as they swooped down to finish off the irritating boy. Ash kept glaring defiantly towards them, refusing to show any sign of fear. He wasn't going to give them that satisfication!

Behind him, Pikachu had enough. Ash could stick that Pokeball somewhere where the sun didn't shine, he wasn't going back in there! Not when his trainer was about to give himself up for his sake. Gritting his teeth, Pikachu slowly but steadily got back onto his feet. Every nerve in his body ached and burned in protest, but he didn't give in. He didn't care what it took, but he had to save Ash! Gathering what little power he had left, Pikachu began to charge up all the electricity he had left. His cheeks sparked with power and soon, he felt something else fill him. Static. The thunderstorm was filled with dormant, static electricity!

Feeling his powers return to him, Pikachu took one big leap and landed on Ash's shoulder before he took to the air. Charging up everything he had, Pikachu Discharged the last of his power. Just as he did it, he felt an incredible surge of power, as a bolt of thunder struck him from above. Using his ability, Lightning Rod, Pikachu super-charged his attack and let it explode towards the Spearows. The explosion caught the bigger part of the flock and expanded, causing the trees closest to them to be swallowed and annihilated by the power.

The entire forest was lit up by the light from the explosion. For a few seconds, the explosion shone like a second sun in the middle of the trees before it died down, leaving a huge crater behind, in the middle of which, a lone boy and his Pokemon was lying, almost completely knocked out. For a moment, the two of them locked eyes. There was still so much they wanted to say to each other, but neither had the strenght to utter a word. But they didn't need to. They could see it in each other's eyes. Everything past and everything up to this point. It was all forgiven and forgotten. Pikachu's disobedience, Ash locking him up, their slow bonding as Ash allwoed Pikachu to sleep and stay in the little makeshift kennel he had made for him... in the end, they had become friends after all. As the memories from the last few days flashed before his eyes, Ash thought he heard someone and out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw someone running towards them, but he didn't take his eyes off his partner. And a second later, he felt darkness claim him, as he and Pikachu finally fainted.

**-X-Y-Z-**

Beep...beep...beep...beep...

Serena drew a shaky breath as she tried to calm herself down from the traumatizing experience. However, that was kind of hard when the constant sound of the beeping from Ash's heart monitor kept reminding her that her best friend was currently floating in between life and death. Feeling restless, she stood up from her spot by the emergency waiting room and began to pace back and forth, not knowing what to do.

She felt hopeless.

After all this time, she and Ash were finally together again and she couldn't do a thing to help him. This was definetely not how she had expected their reunion to be. If she had ever tried to imagine it, it would be under a cloudless sky, in a field or forest with many different colors, not like it had been out there in the storm. When she had first spotted the silhouette of the boy standing a few feet ahead of her, she had felt her heart swell with relief and happiness, despite the storm. But not a second later, Ash's Pikachu had unleashed a humongous Discharge attack, causing an explosion that left the forest scarred with a crater due to the sheer power of the attack.

When the light had died down and the explosion settled again, Serena had been horrified to find that Ash and Pikachu had collapsed at the bottom of the crater. Looking down at them, they could've just as well have been dead. From that point up until she reached the Pokemon Center, everything was kind of fuzzy. She could only clearly recall the feeling of horror and sheer determination to get them back to the Pokemon Center that had driven her during their struggle back to Viridian City. Looking back, she was surprised that she had been able to drag Ash all the way back here by herself since he was actually taller and more muscular than she was.

"Calm down, or you're gonna drill a hole in the floor with your pacing." a voice said from further down the corridor.

Serena stopped in her tracks and looked up. Gary Oak had entered the waiting room. He had been present by the door when she brought Ash in and had spent some time trying to calm her down for the first half an hour after Ash and Pikachu were taken into the emergency room. However, as he had no luck with his attempts, he had decided to leave and go get her something warm to drink so she could regain her normal body warmth, despite Serena's insistance that she was fine. And now, it would seem, he had come back.

"How can you not be frantic with worry?!" she replied as she swallowed and began pacing again. "I know you two didn't always get along, but you were still friends!"

Gary sighed and stepped in front of her, blocking her path and forced her to stop. As soon as she had stopped, he gripped one of her hands and forced the cup with the hot, steaming liquid, hot chocolate if Serena was not mistaken, into her hands.

"Of course I'm worried, but he'll pull through. He's too stubborn to just die like that." Gary said as he led Serena back to her seat in the waiting sofa and pushed her down onto the soft pillows, before sitting down himself.

"How can you just say that like it's nothing?!" Serena exclaimed accusingly and stared at Gary, not wanting to believe what her ears told her he had just said.

For a moment, Gary didn't say anything. Ash's and his friendship/rivalry had always been a complicated thing. They disagreed on a lot of things and they both had the same dream. When they were kids, they would constantly fight over the smallest of things and anything minor could turn into a competition between them. Back then, they had both declared that they hated each other and never would get along, but over time their rivalry had changed somewhat.

They still didn't get along very often and they still held quite different ideals, but somewhere deep down they had developed some kind of connection. Gary wouldn't go as far as to call it a friendly one, but he knew that they both knew deep down that if worst came to worst, they would have each other's backs. It was a hard feeling to describe, and Gary admitedly wasn't the best at vocalising what he felt, as had become quite evident from earlier when he laughed at Ash being stuck out in the storm because he didn't know how to tell Serena that he was a bit worried about his rival's well being.

"Because there's nothing I can do to change the outcome of this." he said. "All I can do is believe that Ash will pull through this. I know deep down that he's strong enough to make it, but if no one believes he can, then how could he himself believe? You're supposed to be his best friend, try and have a little faith."

The words hit Serena like a slap in the face. Was she doubting Ash? Did she think that he wouldn't make it? The mere thought of it sounded absurd, but as she thought about it, she realized that Gary was right. That was why she felt so restless, because she didn't know if he would make it. She was worried right now because she didn't believe whole heartedly that he could survive.

Looking down in shame at her own weakness, Serena swallowed and tried to take a deep breath. Gary was right. Ash would be okay. It wouldn't be long now before those doors opened up and he would be standing there, smiling at her like he always used to do when they were younger. She had to keep telling herself that. She had to keep believing that he would pull through.

"Funny..." she whispered as she looked up again. "I never imagined you of all people would lecture me about believing in Ash."

Gary felt his cheeks heating up and he reached behind his head and scratched it. That... was actually kind of funny. He would've never even imagined that himself. If he hadn't just done it, he would've thought that it would never happen.

However, neither of the two childhood friends got any more time to think about their respective issues, because in that moment the red lamp above the door to the emergency room went out, signaling that whatever had been going on in there was finally over and done with. Serena, despite her mental mantra to "keep believe, keep believe", flew out of her seat faster than a Rapidash, her cup of hot chocolate falling to the floor, spilling its content and rolling out of sight under the sofa.

Gary didn't fly out of his seat, but his expression seemingly tensed as Nurse Joy exited through the door to the emergency room and, noticing the two young trainers, walked up to them. Time seemed to slow down as Nurse Joy opened her mouth to tell Serena and Gary the outcome of the emergency procedure. Serena felt her heart beat wildly in her chest and her throat constrict until she was practically choking as she stared at Nurse Joy's face, trying to get any hint of the outcome. Was Ash alive? Or had she just lost the best friend she had travelled half way across the globe to reunite with?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **_Did Ash make it or did he not? Who is the mysterious stranger in the black suite? And why in the name of ARCEUS am I asking you these questions when I, the author, obviously have the answer to them? Find out on the next chapter of Serene Dreams!_

_Now now, jokes aside, I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter. It was abit complicated to write, especially the fight between Pikachu and Fearow. I hope it turned out okay. Please tell me what you think of that fight. Speaking of which, the Fearow he caught is in honor of the one he caught in the Pokemon Manga, The Electric Tale of Pikachu. _

_And before you guys go and burn me on a stick for Gary's "OOC" behavior in the last scene, come on. He might not have been a very good friend of Ash, but when someone you know are in between life and death, rivalries and shit like that got no place in any person's heart. _

_With that being said, I will say my goodbyes for today and I hope you leave a review to tell me what you think about the chapter! Take care guys!_


	5. Waking Up

**A/N: **_What's going on guys, welcome back to Serene Dreams! So, after the last chapter there were a lot of you guys who remarked that Fearow will probably be a pain in the ass to handle for Ash and I can only confirm that he might not be too happy with his trainer as it is. Some of you didn't understand why I made him catch a Fearow "instead" of a Pidgeotto and to you guys I can only say... whoever said he won't get Pidgeotto? I had Fearow be his first catch because I felt like the struggle would actually teach him something and it made a lot more sense as a reason for the Spearows to attack him than simply throwing a rock at one of them. Also, in the manga "The Electric Tale of Pikachu", which is basically a manga version of the anime with some slight changes, one of those changes are that Ash catches a Fearow as his first encounter. That also played a part in my descision to have Ash catch it, plus I like the Pokemon for nostalgic reasons._

_With that said, I don't think I got anyhting else to say. **Question of the Day** is simply "What Pokemon do you want Ash to catch during his Kanto Journey and why?". Now, please remember that this is **Kanto**. That means that only Kanto Pokemon counts. _

**Disclaimer:** Yup, we got a disclaimer here. Do I really need to say anymore for you guys to understand that I don't own this stuff? XD

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Five: <strong>Waking up

"Beep...beep...beep..."

The slow and melodic beeping from the heart monitor sounded in the background as Serena looked down on the form of an unconcious Ash Ketchum. When Nurse Joy had told her that Ash was going to be okay, she had almost fainted with relief. She had been so scared, so afraid to lose him after just meeting him again for the first time in 5 years. Well, they hadn't really met yet, since Ash hadn't woken up from his coma yet, but at least she got to see him and know that he was going to be okay.

It had taken a few hours, but his health had been stabilized and he was going to make a full recovery in a matter of days according to Nurse Joy. He just needed some rest and to take it easy for a short time when he awoke. She hadn't said how long it would take, but Serena felt quite content waiting, as long as she knew that he would make it.

Sighing as she looked down on the relaxed face, framed by a mane of unruly, raven black hair, she couldn't help but feel amazed about how... familiar he looked. It was as if 5 years hadn't passed at all, he looked just the same as he used to. She knew from the photo on her bedside table that she had changed a lot over the years that had passed. It felt unreal to look down at Ash and still see the same boy who had reached his hand out for her and helped her to her feet that day in the forest at the Summer Camp, almost 8 years ago. It was as if he had been stored in a time capsule after she left Kanto or something.

"Serena?"

Hearing her name being called, Serena looked up to find that Nurse Joy had entered the room, carrying a single Pokeball in her hands. If Serena wasn't completely out of her mind, that was the same Pokeball Ash had in his belt when she brought him in. When they had searched his gear for any Pokeballs, worried that he had more than one Pokemon in a similar state to Pikachu, they had only found one ball. That made sense, she guessed, considering he had just set out on his journey. It had been a few days since she herself left Vaniville and she hadn't caught a single one since that.

"Yeah, is that Ash's?" Serena asked and nodded towards the Pokeball in Nurse Joy's hand.

The Nurse nodded and put it down on Ash's bedside table. "Yes, it is. It contains a Fearow that undoubtly belongs to Ash, but it doesn't seem to want to be healed or anything. It wouldn't listen to what I told it and almost looked like it wanted to attack me when I tried to give it a Paralyze Heal. But aside from that little electric damage, it seems to be unharmed so it should be fine."

Serena frowned. Fearow had tried to attack Nurse Joy? Now, that sounded a bit worrying. Didn't Ash know how to take care of his Pokemon? Fearow must have been pretty angry over something if it tried to attack Nurse Joy just because she tried to heal it.

"That doesn't sound too good. Are you okay?" Serena asked with a hint of concern in her voice, looking Nurse Joy over for any sign that Fearow had went through and actually managed to injure her. However, the nurse just smiled and shook her head.

"Yes, I'm fine. And so is Pikachu. I checked in on him just a moment ago and he was awake. He was exhausted, but other than that he doesn't seem to have taken any lasting damage either."

With that, Nurse Joy left the room to go care for the Pokemon Center's other occupants and their Pokemon, leaving Ash in Serena's capable hands. Or well, that's what they were supposed to be. Serena admitted that she had read up a few things on medicine in preparation for this journey, but she wouldn't call herself an accomplished medic just yet. However, if anything strange began to happen she would just call on Nurse Joy. For now, all she needed to do was exchanging the wet towel that rested on Ash's forehead every 15 minutes.

As she sat there, once again thinking back to the time before she left Kanto, she heard the door open slightly behind her and turned around. At first, she didn't see anyone and wondered if maybe Nurse Joy might have left it ajar and that it had been a gust of wind or something that had opened it, but she soon found her visitor. Sticking his head through the crack in the door, a little bit lower down that Serena had initially allowed her eyes to roam, she found a yellow mouse, who was looking around frantically, but with a curious look all the same on its face.

"Pika?" it said when it noticed Serena.

"He's over here." she said, pointing towards Ash in the bed as she recognized it as the same Pikachu that had been with Ash when she found him.

Slowly, Pikachu made his way into the room and jumped up onto the empty chair that Gary had been leaning against before he decided to get some sleep so he could leave in the morning. Seeing his trainer lying unconciously in the bed, Pikachu's eyes widened in shock and fear.

"Pika?! Pi-Pikachu!" he said, looking at Serena and waving his arms frantically, pointing at Ash for a second before he started to wave them around again with a continous stream of "Pika!"s.

"Calm down, Nurse Joy said he's going to be fine." Serena said to calm the little Electric Mouse.

Hearing that his trainer was going to be fine, Pikachu let out a sigh of relief and fell back into the chair. Serena eyed the mouse for a moment before she turned back towards Ash. Checking the time on her wrist watch, she realized that it was about time she changed the towel, and swiftly stood up to remove the old one, before she took a fresh and clean one from the pile Nurse Joy had given her, wet it with some water over by the sink and put it in place where the other one had been.

When she touched Ash's forehead with the new, cold towel, the boy twitched slightly and mumbled something inaudible. Serena froze half way through the motion, waiting to see if he was beginning to wake up, but when he didn't say or do anything else, she just sighed and completed her job.

In his chair beside Serena, Pikachu had noticed the Pokeball at Ash's bedside table and eyed it with suspiscion. He had a pretty good idea of who was hiding in there and in all honesty, he didn't feel too eager to meet that guy again. Fearow had been out to kill both him and Ash and if Ash hadn't caught him, he would most likely have succeeded. Even if Ash and Pikachu had decided to run for it, Pikachu knew that with the agility and mobility that Fearow had displayed during their battle, even when paralyzed, they wouldn't have gone anywhere, once they had gotten him annoyed.

Serena noticed the look Pikachu was giving Fearow's Pokeball and was tempted to ask about it, but realizied it would be pointless as she didn't understand Pokespeech anyway so Pikachu wouldn't be able to tell her what he was thinking. For a while, they just sat there in silence, not quite sure if they were supposed to try and make a connection or not, but about 20 minutes later they were interrupted, once again, by Nurse Joy.

"Serena, I think you too should try and get some sleep. Chansey can look after Ash while you're sleeping. You need some rest as well or you'll collapse."

Just as she was about to open her mouth to protest, Serena felt her jaws open wide in a big yawn. Okay, so maybe she was a little tired. Or... exhausted was more like it. She hadn't felt this drained since her mother had set up a full day of Rhyhorn Racing Training and tried to get her to stay active for 4 hours straight. That day had been one of the worst in her life, and she had been completely exhausted afterwards. And she felt almost just as exhausted at the moment, now that she actually stopped for a second to think about it.

"I guess you're r-r-right." she said, as she tried to stiffle a second yawn.

Nurse Joy smiled sympathetically towards the young girl. In truth, she was impressed that Serena had lasted this long without collapsing. When the girl had come back from her search, she had been amazed that she was still alive. To willingly run straight out into this storm... this Ash boy must be someone special to Serena. Not to mention the endless hours she spent, waiting outside the emergency room and the time she had since spent by Ash's side.

"We're a little bit stocked at the moment, since many trainers have come here because of the storm, but I've managed to find a double room that you'll have to share with another girl your age. I think that your roommate is asleep now though, so try and be quiet." Nurse Joy said.

Serena just nodded and thanked the nurse for everything. With that, she got up from her seat, cast a last glimpse towards Ash, who was still asleep, and Pikachu, who had stopped glaring at the Pokeball on the bedside table and curled up into a ball in his seat. Smiling to herself, Serena left the room and allowed Nurse Joy to lead her to her rented room.

As soon as she entered, she noticed that her bag had already been placed in the room, by the foot of one of the beds. In the other bed, a girl who looked about her age was already sleeping, with her orange hair floating out over her pillow. Serena however, didn't pay her much mind and silently made her way over to her own bed before she curled up underneath the sheets. As soon as she had, she felt herself grow sleepy almost immediately. Nurse Joy was right, it had been a long and very tiring day and she needed to rest. With that, Serena drifted off to dreamland, as sleep claimed her.

**-X-X-X-**

Ugh... It hurt... Everything hurt. Every damn nerve and cell in his body felt like they were aching, as he felt his conciousness slowly come back to him after who knew how long.

'_Note to self,'_ Ash thought bitterly, '_Don't EVER allow yourself to be hit by a thundercharged Discharge from Pikachu.' _It hurt a lot more than the simple shocks he usually threw his way.

Slowly, Ash felt the initial numbness in his limbs wear off slightly, and the weight on his chest loosened a bit. Where was he anyway? The last thing he could remember was falling to the ground when his foot got caught under a root... What had happened after that? Hm... He was pretty sure he had tried to persuade Pikachu to go back into his Pokeball, but the Electric mouse had refused and instead gotten up to fight off the Spearows that were chasing them. That's when a lightning from the thunderstorm had struck Pikachu and the resulting Discharge attack had knocked him out. At least, that was all he could remember.

"Beep...beep...beep..."

Was that a heart monitor? So he was in a hospital then? Or maybe a Pokemon Center, that sounded a lot more likely, as those were scattered across the region while Hospitals were only built in the larger cities like Saffron City. And logically thinking... he had to be in the Viridian City Pokemon Center, since that was the only town close to Pallet that even had a Pokemon Center at all.

Taking a deep breath, Ash tried to open his eyes. He did so slowly, knowing from experience that unnexpected exposure to strong light would only cause his headache to grow worse. Thankfully, the room he was currently in was shrouded in darkness. As soon as he realized that there was no light scource to make his headache worse, Ash opened his eyes wide.

Looking around the room, he noticed a number of things. First, it was indeed a heart monitor that was the cause of the constant "beep"ing in the background. Secondly, Pikachu was curled up into a ball in a seat next to his bed, asleep but obviously unhurt. Seeing that his partner was fine, Ash let out a sigh of relief. He tried to reach out with his hand to pat his friend's head, but found that he could barely make his arms twitch. They felt heavy and he barely had enough streght to move his fingers. Guess he was still too numb from being struck by Discharge.

Flexing his limbs, he quickly estimated where his current limitations were. Both arms and legs were too numb to move, but his neck, head and anything facial was at least functioning decently. He still felt pretty lightheaded, but with some effort, he was able to look around the room, his eyes finally settling on something on his bedside table: a Pokeball.

'_Fearow...'_ Ash thought. What was he going to do with him? After the way he had captured him and their initial reactions to each other, Ash doubted that Fearow would listen to him. It would be Pikachu's scenario all over again. Releasing the Bird and try to forget it ever happened, but at the same time that wouldn't feel right either. He had caught Fearow and taken him away from his home, he should face responsability for that.

Sighing, Ash rolled his head back so he was looking straight up into the ceiling. What time was it? How long had he been knocked out? Judging by the state the room was in, it was somewhere around nighttime. Perhaps he should just try and get some sleep instead? He could get the answers to his quetions tomorrow. He was still feeling kind of... not drowsy, but he felt like he could definetely make good use of some more sleep. Hopefully, when he woke up next time, he would be able to move his limbs a little better. With that thought in mind, Ash felt sleep reclaim him.

**-X-Y-Z-**

Serena got woken up early in the morning by the sound of someone who were tossing stuff around the room. She squinted with her eyes and found that her roommate, the girl with the orange hair, was going through her bag, tossing its content in all possible random directions. She groaned under her breath, barely audible over the sound of things being tossed and the other girl's annoyed voice.

"Where is it, where is it...?" the girl mumbled to herself.

For a moment, Serena just closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but with her roommate making such noise over... whatever it was that she was trying to find, that was quite a challenge. After a few seconds of pointless attempts to go back to sleep again, Serena sighed and rolled over so she was facing the girl again.

"Do you have to be so loud? Some people are still trying to catch a nap here, you know?" she said with an annoyed tone matching the annoyance in the other girl's voice.

She wasn't usually one to be grumpy, but interrupting her sleep was a sure way to get Serena in a bad mood. She wouldn't go as far as to say that she was a bad morning person, but she definetely didn't like having her sleep rudely interrupted like this.

The girl squeked in surprise at the sudden voice behind her and jumped up from her bag on the floor, looking aorund frantically for the scource of the voice, her eyes finally settling on Serena, who was still lying in her bed.

"When did you get here? I thought I was alone!" the girl exclaimed, still as loud as ever.

Groaning as she realized that she wouldn't be getting anymore sleep right now, Serena sat up and stretched her arms to try and get rid of some of the stiffness that came after sleeping.

"About 3 in the morning I think. Nurse Joy said I could use this room, as it is in fact a double room and they were out of regular rooms to rent out." Serena said as she tried to stiffle a yawn. "We would've asked you first, but you were asleep so we just hoped you wouldn't mind."

"Oh," the girl said. "I don't really mind. I was just surprised because I didn't notice you there when I woke up. My name is Misty, by the way. Misty Waterflower."

"Serena Gabena." Serena said as she got up and went over to her bag to pull out a fresh set of clothes. She should make sure to wash her used clothes now, while she was at a Pokemon Center. Who knew when she would next get the chance to clean up?

With that thought in mind, Serena stopped herself half way through getting dressed and instead went back to her backpack and pulled out a towel. She should make a point to stay as clean as possible, and a shower didn't sound like a bad way to start the day.

20 minutes later, Serena re-emerged from the bathroom, only to find that Misty was still crawling around on the floor, looking for whatever it was she had lost. Frowning, Serena went over to her bed and sat down, drying her hair witht he towel, as she watched Misty lift and look underneath every garment that was lying around after she had thrown them out of her bag in search of... whatever it was.

"What are you looking for anyway? You've been at it since I woke up." Serena asked as she got dressed.

Misty took a moment to answer as she lifted a pair of blue shorts with a hopeful look on her face, but that soon faded when she didn't find anything underneath it. Folding the shorts and putting them on her bed, she sighed in defeat and threw herself down on the messy blankets.

"My Trainer Card. It's my only way of indetification and now I seem to have lost it!"

Serena frowned as she tossed her towel aside and picked up her hairbrush. She herself didn't have a Trainer Card... Oh, wait! She did, just not a physical one. Her Trainer Card was her Pokedex, but only certain trainers had Pokedexes, as not all people received their starter from a Pokemon Professor. Some got them from their parents, others befriended them without first catching them, so those didn't get a Pokedex. The Trainer Card was supposed to serve as a way of identifying the Trainer and make sure that he or she really was who she claimed she was, if there ever was a doubt that the person might be lying for some reason. Kind of like a passport.

Looking over to Misty, she found that the other girl was starting to look frustrated. Or well, more frustrated than she had been when Serena woke up at least. Not that Serena could blame her; she too tended to become annoyed when she was sure she had known where something was and it wasn't there.

"Why don't you take a break and come down to the lobby and eat some breakfast? I won't come back here after breakfast, so maybe it will be easier to find then?" Serena suggested. In truth, her argument wasn't really that good as most of her things were still safely tucked inside her backpack so all the mess was Misty's, but getting breakfast could still prove to be beneficial, as Misty looked like she could use something to eat.

Misty herself didn't seem too eager to leave the room without having found her Trainer Card, but she reluctantly accepted and 5 minutes later, both girls could be seen entering the lobby. Behind the counter, Nurse Joy looked up from some papers and waved when she noticed Serena.

"Serena, can you come here for a second?"

Frowning, Serena made her way over to the counter where Nurse Joy was currently arranging some papers. Behind her, Misty followed in her tracks, a little curious as to what Nurse Joy wanted with her new... well, new aqcuintance. Misty wouldn't go as far as to call Serena her friend just yet, but she felt that they were getting along decently so far so the option definetely wasn't an impossibility.

"Gary left earlier this morning, but he told me to tell you to keep an eye on Ash."

This didn't surprise Serena in the least. Gary had said the night before that he would be leaving in the morning, as long as Ash's condition didn't get worse over the night. At least that was a good sign, as that meant that Ash was still in decent condition and that it hadn't gotten worse while she was sleeping.

"What's more," Nurse Joy continued, "I checked in on him just a little while ago. His heart rate have been stable throughout the night and I felt confident enough to remove the heart monitor. He's practically back to normal in terms of physical shape, his body is just lagging behind due to extreme exhaution."

As she said this, Nurse Joy offered Serena a supportive smile, as if trying to show that this was indeed a very good sign. Serena nodded and offered the nurse a thankful smile, letting her know that she appreciated all that she had done for Ash. Knowing that Ash was in good hands and that his recovery was advancing at a good pace, Serena thanked the nurse for telling her about Ash's progress and told her that she would drop by the infirmary once she had gotten something to eat, before she left with Misty.

**-X-Y-Z-**

The first thing Ash noted when he woke up the next time was the abscence of the heart monitor. Clearly remembering his brief time awake during the night, he noticed that there was no "beep"ing the moment he regained conciousness, before he even opened his eyes. The next thing he noticed was that the room was lit up this time, as he saw an orangish glow when looking through closed eyes, rather than the complete blackness that had been present during his night time awake.

"_I think he is waking up..."_

That voice... Where was it coming from? It sounded familiar somehow, like he had heard it before somewhere. But it almost sounded as if it came to him through a long pipe or something. But despite that, it still sounded so familiar to Ash it was scary, because at the same time he couldn't remember where he had heard it.

"Ash? Can you hear me?"

It sounded a lot closer this time, and a lot more familiar. Ash tried to move his arm and felt his finger twitch slightly. The numbness from earlier was gone and he could almost feel his legs again. Slowly, Ash began to force his eyes open to try and get a glimpse of whoever was talking to him.

The sight that met him almost caused him to choke on his own tongue. Staring back at him were a pair of large, saphire blue eyes that were almost glimmering, almost giving the impression that they were shining. And while a pair of eyes might not be something to choke over, it was the close proximity to his face that freaked him out. At the same moment, his nostrils were assaulted by the faint smell of some kind of flowery scent, a perfume if he had to guess, that they for some reason hadn't noticed yet and his hearing cleared enough to pick up the sound of the person's breathing.

"Hghk!" Ash hiccuped as his eyes shot up wide in surprise.

Whoever had been standing over him squeked in shock and surprise and immediately threw themselves away from him and, if the crash and thud in the background was any indication, fell over one of the chairs that had been placed beside his bed. For a moment, the sound of the chair falling to the ground echoed through Ash's head, but it soon died down, enough for him to lift his arms and struggle himself up into a semi-sitting position to check on the person who had fallen backwards over the chair.

Then he froze.

The girl that was lying on the floor looked eerie familiar to him, just like her voice had souned. Her long, honey blonde hair that went down over her shoulders, her saphire blue eyes... she looked just like someone he used to know when he was a kid! She looked older of course, being taller and her face wasn't as round as it used to be... but otherwise she looked just like... _her. _

At that moment, the girl looked up and the two youths locked eyes. Time seemed to slow down as the two of them stared at each other, not even making a sound. For Ash, he felt his chest twist and turn with conflicting emotions. Could it... this girl, could she really be...?

"S-Serena?"

The girl just nodded silently, staring at Ash unsure of what to do. However inside, Serena was cursing herself. Why was she freezing up? She had been close to Ash for nearly 12 hours at least, why was she freezing up now? Swallowing nervously, Serena tried to compose herself and took a deep breath to calm her racing heart.

"Uhm... y-you're finally awake!" she managed to croak out.

In his bed, Ash sat up straight, not even noticing his protesting limbs. His eyes were still locked on Serena. How could this be? Could it really be her? He hadn't seen her for so long... wasn't she supposed to be living on the other side of the globe or something?

"B-but... how? How are you here? W-when...?"

Watching the scene from her corner of the room, Nurse Joy couldn't help but smile slightly. Serena had told her how she and Ash were connected while they had been waiting the night before and seeing the two of them finally reunite, Joy couldn't do anything other than feel happy for them. It was almost like a fairy tale, how they were separated and now reunited 5 years later.

"I'll leave you two alone." she said gently and nodded towards Chansey that they should leave.

However, neither of the two youths registered that the nurse had spoken and didn't even look up when the door closed behind Nurse Joy and Chansey. With Ash having managed to pull himself into a more comfortable position and Serena having gotten up from the floor and sat down beside the bed in the chair that hadn't fallen over. They still hadn't taken their eyes off each other, nor had they spoken a word. Eventually, Serena fought down her own nervousity and broke the silence.

"I-it's been a long time." she laughed nervously and gave him a strained smile.

"Yeah..." Ash said, the sound of her voice snapping him out of his stupor. Then, still not sure if he believed his own or if his senses betrayed him, he slowly reached out with his hand towards the girl sitting in front of him. Serena caught up on what it was he wanted and held out her own hand towards him.

The two best friends felt like time had completely stopped as their hands made contact. If he had doubted his sense before, this was proof enough to him that Serena was really here. His best friend, whom he hadn't seen or heard from in 5 years, was sitting right in front of him, holding his hand. Slowly, he twisted his hand slightly, allowing their fingers to interwine with each other, just like they used to hold each other hands when they were kids.

Her hand still felt the same.

On the other end, Serena felt her cheeks heat up when Ash interwined his fingers with hers. How she had missed that feeling, that slight tingle that went through their connected hands up her arm and down her spine, as if their contact had somehow sent an electric impulse that travelled through her body. This was proof. It was proof that she had done the right thing when she left Kalos behind and travelled back to Kanto.

For a moment, they stayed like that, just content watching the other and take in their features. It was no secret that they had both grown a lot since that day when they were separated. Ash had gotten a lot taller and muscular from days of exploring the forest and taking care of the Pokemon at Professor Oak's Lab that were sent there by trainers who worked for the old Professor. Ash had never been thin, but the last two years had really seen a change in his overall bodybuild.

Serena on the other hand had also grown since she sat in the car and watched Ash, and Pallet Town, slowly drifting away behind her. She too had grown a lot taller from the little girl who had been lost in the forest. Her face wasn't as round anymore, her cheeks being more flat and her body had become a lot more slender, with barely visible development in certain areas that suggested that she was entering puberty. Also, her hair had gotten a slight shade darker, compared to the light brown she used to have. Apparently, it was a trait she had inherited from her mother, who had been light blonde in her youth, but had her hair become a lot darker over time.

"I came back." Serena said awkwardly, attempting to break the awkward silence that had befallen them.

Ash just nodded, his eyes still locked with her's. He didn't know what to say. There were a thousand questions he wanted to ask and a thousand feelings running through his chest that he wanted to let out. He wanted to let Serena know how happy he was to see her again, to let her know how much he had missed her. He opened his mouth to try and say something, but no sound escaped.

The silence stretched on for a few more moments, until it was finally broken by a low grumble that seemed to originate from somewhere around Ash's midriff. Ash felt his cheeks heat up and redden in embarrassment. It took yet a moment longer, then Serena couldn't help it. She laughed. It wasn't a mean laugh or meant in any bad way, just a good natured and friendly laugh. And from there, it didn't take Ash long to join in. His cheeks was still slightly red from embarrrassment, but he couldn't help but laugh with Serena, glad that the tension had been broken.

"I guess that's one thing that hasn't changed at all, has it?" Serena said when she had caught her breath and grinned at Ash in a way that anyone she knew in Kalos would think of as a very "un-Serena-ish" way.

"Yeah, I guess so." Ash grinned sheepishly and the back of his head with his free hand.

The 2 old friends smiled at each other widely, in a way neither had thought they would ever do again, before Serena slowly stood up and let go of Ash's hand.

"Tell you what, just stay still and let Nurse Joy check you over really quick and I'll be back with something to eat shortly. Okay?" Serena said with a smile.

Ash nodded in embarrassment, feeling very aware of himself at the moment. Out of all the times, his stomach just had to growl at that specific moment? He hadn't seen Serena for years and now that they finally met again, which he still wasn't quite sure how it had happened, his stomach just had to be there and ruin the moment. If that wasn't embarrrassing, he didn't know what was.

Seeing that Ash agreed with her suggestion, Serena flashed him a slightly more relaxed smile and turned to leave. That hadn't gone exactly like she had expected it to, but she wouldn't complain. She was too relieved to know that Ash was up and okay to be angry or upset that things had become so awkward. Actually, she almost felt like thanking Ash's stomach for growling in the middle of their awkward staring-moment to break up the tension. And it also felt good to know that Ash still had his insatiable apetite. At least that was one thing that would never change.

**-X-Y-Z-**

It was later that afternoon when Nurse Joy finally deemed Ash strong enough to at least stand up and walk around. The shocks from Pikachu's Discharge, coupled with his extreme exhaution from fighting off the Spearows and the storm, had left his muscles in a very bad state, but he should recover if he just didn't overexert himself for a little while. However, remembering how stubborn Ash could be in situations like this, Serena insisted that they spend the night at the Pokemon Center before they left.

"So you came all the way from Kalos, just to travel with me?"

Ash, Serena and Pikachu had taken to sit at the one of the tables in the Pokemon Center's Cafeteria so Serena and Ash could catch up. Ash had gathered up his stuff to make sure he had everything for the journey ahead already, but Serena had insisted that they should stay. While normally he would've complained about this, Ash didn't argue with her, partly because he was so glad to see her again, and partly because he still had the storm in pretty fresh memory and didn't want a repeat of that.

"Yup, we promised each other we would travel Kanto together, didn't we? I wasn't going to let my stupid mom stop me from keeping that promise!" Serena smiled, relieved that the awkwardness from back in the emergency room had passed after Ash had gotten his meal.

The boy in question was sitting opposite to her, his black shirt, red and white jacket and blue pants back on, and his red and white baseball cap lying on the table between them. Now that he was up and walking around again, Serena could notice and appreciate his growth better than when he had been lying unconcious in that nursery bed. He was taller than she had first thought and now that his muscles had recovered and his arms weren't shaking or lying limp by his side, he looked a lot healthier than she had first noticed. Also, his face had lost the last of its chubbiness, though it still maintained most of his features from how he used to look. Even though she felt slightly ashamed that it was the first thing on her mind, now that she had reunited with her best friend, Serena couldn't help but think that Ash actually looked good.

Ash on the other hand, was more interested in how and why Serena had gotten here, which was pretty natural since last thing he heard was that she had moved far, FAR away from here. Pikachu was also very interested in the girl sitting opposite to him and his trainer, though he was more intrerested in how they knew each other and where she came from. He figured that he would've met her if she was a friend of Ash's from Pallet Town, so she had to live somewhere else.

"Really? You travelled half way across the globe, just to keep a promise to me?" Ash asked with dismay.

"Well," Serena said, "would you rather I go back to Kalos?"

As she said this, she put on a mock pout, causing Ash to do a 180 degree turn around.

"NO! No no no no! That's not what I meant! I can't begin to tell you how nice it is to see you again, Serena! That's not it. It's just... travelling half way across the globe like that, it sounds like a pretty reckless thing to do, just because of a promise." Ash felt like he really was explaning himself very poorly. He wasn't angry or anything that Serena was here. Seeing his best friend again after all these years had made him feel happier than he had felt since... well, since she left! It was just... honestly, he wasn't sure what it was, but it felt like he didn't deserve to have his best friend just root up her life in Kalos and come back here.

"Oh yeah? Well, what if I felt like it was worth it?" Serena said, turning back towards Ash. "Besides, you're not exactly one to talk about being reckless, are you?" she winked at him as she added the last part.

This had Ash grinning sheepishly and scratching the back of his head, while Pikachu was nodding his head in agreement with Serena. After what had happened in the storm and the plan that Ash had come up with to subdue Fearow, Pikachu couldn't classify Ash as anything less than reckless.

"Guess you got me there, huh?" Ash said, while Serena giggled at his face.

The two fell into a comfortable silence, neither quite willing to speak up and confirm the implications of what had just been said. Pikachu was looking between the two old friends, a little confused as to what was going on, but decided to not bother trying to understand. Humans were weird, that was all he needed to know. Or at least, Ash was weird, but in a good way. He didn't know about Serena, but his trainer seemed to be well acquinted with her, so he figured he could give her a chance, as long as he gave Ash the benefit of the doubt.

Ash just kept grinning, not quite sure what he was supposed to say. The mere thought that Serena had come all this way, from the other side of the globe, just to travel with him made him feel... odd. He couldn't believe that she would actually go that far and the fact that she had indeed went that far made him feel kind of weird inside. What was more was that ever since they had left the emergency room, he had had this nagging feeling that there was something he was supposed to say, but he couldn't for the life of him come up with what to say. It just didn't sound right to say that he was flattered, because that sentence just sounded... incomplete for a situation like this.

"Uhm... so, what did your mother say about this? Does she even know that you're here in Kanto and not in Kalos?" Ash asked, trying to find something to talk about.

It was strange, really. He had wanted to see Serena again so badly ever since she left. After all this time, there were still nights when he couldn't sleep because he kept remembering the times they used to share with each other, yet now that she was finally here again, he didn't know what to say. It felt like he had a thousand things to say, yet he couldn't come up with a single thing to actually talk about. At least none that felt relevant enough.

However, something he had said seemed to cause something to turn over in Serena's mind, because her eyes widened in shock and before Ash could ask what was wrong, she stood up from her seat.

"Mom! Oh no! I told her I would call as soon as I found you!" she exclaimed in shock.

Before Ash could ask why not calling Grace on time was such a crime, Serena had grabbed her pink hat in one hand, and Ash's wrist in the other and was dragging him towards the lobby, where the phone booths were at. Left behind was a very confused Pikachu, who stared after his trainer and blinked, not quite sure what to make of it. Ash hadn't even had time to get his hat...

Shaking his head, Pikachu resigned himself to be Ash's hat carrier for now and lifted the cap and put it on his own head. It actually fit surprisingly well, so he left it there and jumped off the table and took off after his trainer and his trainer's friend. One thing was for sure: it would be interesting to follow those two, no matter where they went.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **_Ooooh... damn, I'll be honest with you guys. I feel like I messed that up pretty badly. It felt like the situation where Ash woke up would be one of those times when neither of the two involved knew quite what to say. They got like a hundred things they want to say, but instead of asking they just find it hard to put their feelings into words. I am not sure if I displayed it too well though, neither in that scene or the cafeteria scene._

_But ah well, it is what it is. Also, I am really sorry that this chapter did little to push the plot forward, but I wanted to give a good impression of how it could feel to wait for someone who you care a lot about and is in a coma. It's really shitty, believe me. _

_Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did and haven't followed or faved yet, make sure to smash the hell outta the two nice little buttons down below, and if you got an opinion on this chapter be sure to leave a review. I want to promise you that the next chapter might take a little time, since I got Serene Phoenix Reborn that still needs work and a Harry Potter story named "Prodigy" that needs updating. Also, I want the next chapter to cover more ground and actually see the travellers make some progress. So hopefully, it will be worth the wait! Until then, bye guys!_


End file.
